Tomorrow is next year?

 

We have no signal here so this may be posted late...I want to tell all my friends out there....

Happy New Year!!!

Sherri points out some nice Oak Trees.

Well the title of this tells it all. Sherri and I slept in this morning until 7:00. OHHH how good it felt to sleep that late and get up when we wanted to and drink our coffee without any rush to it at all. This only happens on the weekend and we savor every minute of it.

Sherri says..."We could have a house here...Somewhere in Time"

Today we do have to get up and go to town to check our mail and get a few things...and while we are out we will stop by a couple of properties that we have looked at on the Internet. We found one that fits all the criteria that we have laid out so it will be one we will have to go back and look at again. But until we make that final decision we will  look at many more to be sure that when we pick one it will be the right one.

This is the front of the property...the phone box is at the corner

We drove for some time today and stopped by a friend of ours to see the lot next door to her. She said she thought they may be foreclosing  this property soon and wanted us to check it out before we moved on any other.

We visited for some time and then headed to the house to get settled in for the night. We have to come up with something to eat at home tonight because we are off expenses until Sunday. The temps are going to fall into the mid 20's this evening so I have to roll up the water hoses and put them away. We have plenty of water in our 120 gal tank so we should be OK until it thaws out tomorrow.

Tonight we are meeting my sister and BIL at the Mexican food place for dinner. They are doing First Monday Trade Days this weekend. We try to meet up with them every time we are in town when they are.

OK better sign out of here for now...Just noticed on TV that Jackson Miss. area getting some bad weather. Hope John and Bridget are OK...we will have to give them a call when we get a signal here...

Somewhere in Time

Working in Louisiana

 

We were up this morning very slow. I had made the coffee the night before so all we had to do was flip the switch and wait. I wish there had been a switch I could have flipped and got me going but I could not locate one.

We sat around for some time talking about what all we had to  do that morning and then we started looking for land. This has been a past time for us for some time. We are looking for a place we can eventually build us a house or barn on and live out our unable to travel years...You know the years when the kids take the keys away and pray that you don't have an extra set.

Sherri found several possible sites and we got ready and went out looking. We traveled for some time and found a couple of sites that we wanted to look into but we have to leave today so this will be something we can do when we come home.

While we were out Jenny Johnson called http://elevenfootrv.blogspot.com/ She wanted to wish Sherri a Happy Birthday. They talked for some time and then I got to say my hellos. Jenny is planning on coming through Louisiana soon and we are trying to plan a meet. We have not seen Jenny in three years and miss her. This will be fun if we can pull something off.

OK we got packed up and headed out to the east. We stopped by my daughters house on the way and dropped off some things that we had for them. I got to see my granddaughter and grandson's new bikes. They were out front riding them and sure looked good. Santa brought them both a bike.

We arrived late to the hotel...as usual and met up with some co-workers. We all went out to eat and then came back ready for bed. It has been a long day and we are really tired. Time to close the old eyes and dream of traveling...

Somewhere in Time

 

Birthday Party

 

Sherri's birthday cup cakes

Sherri woke up this morning while I was in the kitchen fixin the coffee. While it was brewing I went upstairs and took my shower and shaved...I had not shaved in two weeks and it was starting to show. When your beard turns grey it takes a while for it to start looking bad.

 

Frank and Jennifer fixed a great meal for us

I came back down to the kitchen and and poured out coffee. We sat there and enjoyed two cups before we got up and started getting ready to go the Jennifer's house for lunch. Jennifer and Frank had worked yesterday and this morning to get our lunch ready. They had turkey and dressing...broccoli casserole...yams...green beans...potato salad and rolls. WOW...for dessert we had two kinds of pies and then to top off the evening Jennifer and the kids made chocolate muffins with candles on them for Sherri's birthday! Was she surprised. We all sang to her and then had more dessert.

Frank's Mom brought her pictures over on disc for me to copy onto my computer. I worked on that while the Cowboys got there heads crushed in. Got to love the Stealers!!!

We stayed until about 7:30 and then headed to the lake to spend our last night here. We leave in the morning for Louisiana. We will be there all week and then return to the lake for a few days. I still have to make an appointment at the service center to get the last of the work done on my house. We are getting a new drive motor on one of the slides and they are replacing a window stool in the back where we had some water damage. This will finish all the 2 year warranty items and now we will have to depend on the extended warranty for the next 5 years.

Well Sherri is playing her game and I am just about to finish this post. It is getting time for me to lay my head down and dream of things to come...

Somewhere in Time

Merry Christmas and Happy Birthday Sweetheart

Yes kids this is Santa...

XX years ago today I received the best present ever. My wife was born on Christmas day and little did I know that in the future the Lord would pair us up to make the family we have today. How lucky can one guy be to have all this given to him so many years ago. The gift he gave me just keeps on giving too...

 

How lucky am I

We had a wonderful Christmas Eve and the kids had so much fun. Sherri and I could not help but smile when we got to Jennifer's house and had the opportunity to spend time with all. The kids opened their presents and had so much fun. We got to visit with all and tell stories and laugh.

We miss our boys in Kansas and hope to get some pictures of them opening presents and having fun. We both hope in the future that we are able to spend a Christmas with them there. We love all our kids and miss them when we are far away.... Pictures Please Brice if you read this.

Merry Christmas to all my friends out there...

Sherri got soooo many facebook Happy Birthday wishes from all of you out there and she was touched. It means a lot to her that so many friends thought of her on her birthday...being Christmas and all. She has always felt second on her Birthday...competing with the Lord and all.

Happy Birthday baby from your traveling companion in life. I pray that we have many miles left together...

Somewhere in Time

Merry Christmas Eve Day

 

Sherri and I woke up this morning laying on the Living room fold out bed. One of the G-kids had wet the bed while staying with us...Go Figure. We had washed all the bed linens but were just too tired to make the bed. It was Christmas Eve Day and we were invited over to Jennifer's house to have brunch and open presents. We wanted to go early but we were so lazy this morning. The day before we had been out all day shopping and just could not get going.

Sherri made the coffee and I got up as soon as it was ready and poured us both a cup. We laid there in bed and drank our coffee. The conversation soon turned to all the Christmas that we had in the past...Yes there were some tears.

One thing I know for sure we had a great life with the kids and Christmas was always special. We would not take for all the wonderful memories we store in our thoughts. It is so important that everyone makes those memories no mater what the cost! That is all you are left with in the end when everything else goes...and you know what I mean.

Sherri and I both would like to take this time to wish all our friends out there a Merry Christmas. I hope that all of you make memories...

Somewhere in Time

Christmas Week

 

This is the week that we all empty out our bank accounts for those folks we love. Sherri and I are no different than anyone else. We too are spending money like there is no tomorrow. This may be the last Christmas that we have the financing to give every child what they want. The older ones are really getting expensive with their wants.
Everything they have their eye on is $100. plus! They will be the ones that really feel the impact of our fixed income.

We have most of the shopping done. We still have to go out and finish up some loose ends but that should be easy. Most of the big shopping is behind us. I think Wally World will be the place to finish out and that will be good because everything is under one roof.

We got all our presents for the boys in Kansas in the mail and they should get it before Christmas. We had to spend $40.00 on shipping alone just to make sure they get it on time. I had told my son that I could send them the money for everything plus the money I would spend shipping it but I don't think he wanted to have to shop for it. We don't mind shopping for the boys but when you have to find a box to ship it in and then wrap all the presents fit them into the box and get them to the shipping place...We both wish we lived closer to them...then we could watch them open the presents and be there with them. OH well such is life.

Christmas is Saturday and we will be spending some of it with our youngest daughter. Sherri is already planning her menu and gathering up all the necessary ingredients to make special food for the gathering. She likes doing this even though it wears her out.

OK this might be my last entry until after Christmas so I want to tell all my readers out there to have a Merry Christmas...

Somewhere in Time.

Lake Tawakoni State Park

 

We were up fairly early this morning and headed out to pick up our home. We left Shreveport around 8:00 am after eating breakfast in the hotel restaurant. The trip to our lake property was lengthy but uneventful. The Jeep rides so much better than the one ton but it does not handle the side winds well. We had a lot of side wind but we managed it OK.

We arrived at the lake around 11:00 am and changed over to the truck. We swung by the State Park to see if they had some openings for us to stay there for Christmas. Sure nuff it was deserted so that is where we will live for Christmas. Then on to Dallas where we stopped off at Red Lobster for lunch. We then jumped back on the highway toward Denton and ran into more traffic than you could dream of. It was the SHOPPING traffic. Oh yes they were out in force and then it was mixed with the getting off early for Christmas Holiday traffic...Well you can imagine we just made it to the dealership at 4:00 pm.

We found out upon arrival that our house was not ready? We gave them two weeks to do the work and for some reason it was not complete when we arrived. Two Weeks! What did they do in two weeks??? Needless to say we were both a little upset...but we did wait for an hour and a half and they were complete...

This put us in the worst of the worst traffic by this time. We drove through the traffic from hell but made it OK to the State Park about 8:30. WOW we were exhausted. Now remember 12 hours ago we were sitting in Shreveport! It was nice to be in our own home after being on the road all this time.

We found us a pull through with sewer and hooked up. Then we both relaxed in our recliners...got on line and caught up with the rest of the road travelers out there.

 

Knowing that tomorrow was going to be a shopping day back in the big city we turned out the lights and soon were...

Somewhere in Time  

Our last day here

 

I guess I owe Don and Cheryl Cato an apology! We never did get together of dinner. We have worked so late every night and here it is time to go and no visit! Sorry maybe when we are here for pleasure we can work in some time to visit.

We worked a long time today...unusual for us and then we came straight to the hotel and jumped on the computer. I am having to mail in some paperwork to the office and it seems like every night we have to get all that done and then try to find a quick bite and back to the room to sleep.

We will leave out of here tomorrow and drive to Denton Texas to pick up our house. I called today and they have all but one of the warranty items finished and they said they would schedule it for the week after Christmas.

I guess we will go to our lake property and park for a few days. I am not sure where we will spend Christmas but there will be as good as any. We don't spend Christmas with the kids so they can do their own thing. We will visit with them before and after but not on the day of. Sherri's Birthday is Christmas Day and we usually go somewhere...just her and I.

Not much shaking today. I will write tomorrow and let you know how everything went...

Somewhere in Time

Another work day ahead

 

This morning we both were moaning and slow to get up. Neither of us wanted to be getting up but we knew we had to. We have this day and one more and we get to go and get our house back.

We left our house at Explore USA in Denton so our warranty work could be done. This is it on our two year warranty and we wanted to get all the stuff fixed before it ran out. This was a good time to do it because we would be gone two weeks and that would give them plenty of time to do the work. We have a five year warranty that begins after December and we will have to handle all those repairs differently.

Well that is about it for this morning. We are out the door into the cold. We will both return...

Somewhere in Time

Funs over

 

Today the alarm went off...

Funs over we have to head back to work and put in our time. Really it is not all that bad. I have had worse jobs in my life...for instance when I was going to college I worked at a nursery planting shrubs and trees. Now that was hard work.

I got up showered and got dressed. Sherri was not too far behind me. She was feeling better this morning and seemed to be moving a little faster. We both finished prepping for the day and went down to breakfast...which by the way if your a Priority Card member is free. They don't open until 6:30 which is a little too late for us to have breakfast but today we were going to chance it. They have a wonderful breakfast buffet and we really enjoyed setting down and eating.

Sure nuff we were late getting to work because of the time we took for breakfast. Maybe in the morning we will get a breakfast to go.

Before we knew it the work day was done and we were loading up in the Jeep. On the way home we found a Notary and when we had got our papers done we found the Post Office and viola we had our list of things to do done.

We made it back to the hotel and relaxed for a short while. One of our friends called to see if we were ready to go and eat. We all decided to go to Sam's Buffet and let the hotel driver take us there. We did not want to lose our parking space. Good parking spaces are at a minimum around here and ours is prime this evening.

It was cold when we got out of the van at the casino. The wind had picked up and our light jackets were not as warm as we had thought they would be. OH well the walk from the van to the front door was not that far and soon we were in the warmth of the building.

We sat down for a good meal at the buffet there and enjoyed the visit we all had. We visited for about 30 minutes after we finished out dinner and then decided to call the shuttle to come and pick us up.

We had a good ending to a day filled with work and play...

Somewhere in Time

Laundry Day

 

This morning there were no alarms and no phone calls so Sherri and I did not wake up until 7:00 am. I had dreamed I was being chased by an alligator on a lonely road somewhere here in Louisiana. Boy was I tired...I don't know if I out ran the beast or not because Sherri had woke me up telling me it was hot in the room. I drifted back off for what seemed a short time and then Sherri asked me if I was awake. We laid there for a while talking about what all we needed to do that day and we thought we would work in a casino with our list of stuff.

Soon we were both up. I took my shower and then Sherri got hers and we hurried on down stairs to the Jeep. We drove over to Diamond Jacks and ate breakfast. We both had omelets and they were soooo good.

From there we headed into the casino and played for a couple of hours and broke even. We had fun and that is what it is all about. We love to play the games and as long as we can maintain enough to keep playing then we are happy.

We left there about 1:00 and went back to the hotel to do our laundry. Sherri gathered up all our clothes and we went down to the laundry located downstairs in the hotel. It is real nice that they have a guest laundry and you don't have to drive all over to find one.  It took one load to get it all and when Sherri took the load out of the dryer she noticed that there was chocolate on her jacket. I started to break out in a sweat! I did not have chocolate???? I knew if it was in my pockets that I would be in time out the rest of the day. Come to find out Sherri was the one with the chocolate in her pocket and was I relieved! She got it out and all was well.

While all this was going on I was in the Workout room walking on the tread mill. I walked for 30 minutes and sure felt good doing it. I am trying to lose 40 lbs between now and the end of February. I know it will be hard to do but it is a must. I am cutting down on my portions and staying away from the starches. Working out will help me shed some of this weight.

We really don't want to go out to eat tonight. Sherri is still tired from last week so we may just order out. We can eat in the room and watch TV. Tomorrow starts our work week and we need to be rested for that.

I'll have to say today has been really fun. We got to go to the casino and play our games. This way of life has been good and we look forward to what tomorrow will bring...

Somewhere in Time

One day off then back to work

 

Sherri and I got up this morning and headed to work...What... you say... it is Saturday...Well you are right there Pilgrim. We were in Rayville putting a new store in an old location and it took just a little bit longer than the great planning gods thought. We got on the road after a quick breakfast and arrived at the store a little late. We have put in some overtime this week...which will be OK...we need extra money for Christmas.

Speaking of which...we have a ton of kids now. I think Sherri is going to give the older girls gift cards to their favorite stores and the little ones get some presents. It is coming to that time in our lives that we don't have the money to buy for everyone. Our kids stopped getting presents from us years ago and the grandkids took over. Now that the grandkids are getting older they are dropping out of the gift pool. Soon it will only be the great grandkids.

I was reading my mentors journal today... Darrell of: http://www.wanderingamerica.com/index.html

and he was talking about the economy and how flat that it has stayed. Well they say that we are not getting cost of living increases on our SS because it is flat...and we are suppose to believe that. Everything is going up except in DC where they don't go out on the street for any information.  If you just look up at the diesel prices and the food cost you would see that we are all paying more. Diesel alone in the past 3 months has gone from $2.78 to $3.20 which is an increase of $.14 a month. Not to mention the increase in electric bills and water bills and food cost. Our elected officials are living in another world. But then they don't retire on SS and have to find medical insurance to supplement their health insurance.

Our president made the comment the other day that veterans that volunteered for military service should have to pick up some of the cost of their medical. After all they volunteered to work for him so why should he pay for their medical. You know I haven't heard one Senator or Congressman volunteer to pay for their medical cost or any other cost that they incur while serving us. Mater-a-fact they take their full salary and medical with them as soon as they leave office. Federal Judges do the same...WOW... what a deal. Wonder why we can't get a deal that good?

Nuff said just had to vent for a while...then I have the right to...I served my country and I vote every election.

Sherri and I plan on doing absolutely nothing tomorrow. We may do a little laundry and mail some letters but other than that we will be kicked back and chilling...

Somewhere in Time 

Loading up the New Store

 

This morning I woke up for the fourth time and the fourth time was the right time to get up. The other three were just trial runs. I hate when that happens. It seemed like it was every hour on the hour and I just could not stay asleep!

Well like I said the fourth time was the one I had to get up and stay up. I felt my way through the room to the shower. I did not turn on the lights so Sherri could sleep. I always get up first and get my shower...get dressed and then I wake her up so she can do her thing.

Today we had to drive about 30 minutes to a new store set. This was a new store that had to be set from the bottom up. It would be a new experience for me...not having done this type of set before.

We arrived on time and checked in at the front door and then had our meeting. Once the meeting was over we got right to work setting the Entrees. This is all freezer work and it does get cold. Now this is not too bad in the summer...but winter...you never do warm up until you hit the hot shower at the hotel.

We finalized the evening by eating at Chili's. I had the tortilla soup and a house salad. So far I have been sticking to my diet and eating smaller portions. I hope to be back down to my old weight...

Somewhere in Time

Here we are in Louisiana

 

 

Sherri driving her new Jeep

Riding shotgun trying to stay calm

Sherri and I got up Monday morning knowing that we had a tight schedule. One that would probably run us late getting into Louisiana. We had all the intentions in the world of getting up early and getting everything ready to pull out of the park by 9:00 am. Well as things would have it that never happened.

We did get up on time and we made our coffee as usual...and when it came time to get things packed up we did. The only thing is we just did not get in a hurry after that. 9:00 am turned into 10:30 and then we had to stop at the dump to clean out.

We got all that done and checked out of the park a little before 11:00...then it was on to Explore USA to drop the RV off at the hospital. We are having our slide adjusted and some interior touches done before our warranty runs out.

I met with the tech doing the work and went over my list to be sure he knew what had to be done. Went inside to sign the papers and give them some instructions on leaving it plugged up so our groceries would not spoil. I think I got everyone there straight on what needed to happen and then it was time to hit the road.

Next we had to stop by Terrell to pick up our new Jeep. Well this is the second one we bought in the last 2 weeks. No I don't own two Jeeps I had to take one back. They sold me one that they said you could flat tow but that was not correct. I had to call the manager there and told him I was a little upset about this. He told me to bring the Jeep back and he would make it right. Sure nuff they did they sold me a Liberty for the same price with twice as much equipment as the other. I was a happy camper and now I have the Jeep I wanted

Sherri drove it out with a smile on her face and we went to Applebee's to eat lunch. After eating we walked out to the Jeep to go to the lake and I noticed we didn't have an inspection sticker on the windshield. OK back to the dealership to get that problem fixed. You would think that a new Jeep that you just got off the showroom floor would be easy to inspect in short order....well no....we waited almost 45 minutes for that to get done. By this time we are way off our schedule and we still have to stop by the barn at the lake and do a load of laundry.

Heading east and the sun fading away

Last look back at a beautiful sunset.

OK now it is about 4:00 pm and we are heading out to Louisiana. We started out in the day light and soon the sun sank into the west leaving us in total darkness. Our Jeep lights come on automatically when the day light fades away. I had time for one last glance back to see the sun paint the sky. Then as I redirected my sight ahead of me I saw the state line pass by and we were in Louisiana...

Somewhere in Time

Waiting on Friends

 

We got up this morning about 6:00 am and felt the cold on the other side of the covers. Sherri got up and went down to make coffee while I hung back waiting for the furnace to warm up the house. Chivalry on my part wouldn't you say...LOL.

Not much happening today...we are meeting Mark and Dortha for a late lunch up in Denton Texas. Until then we are putting together our expense reports for work. We spend a lot of time keeping up with that so we will get reimbursed for all our travel hotel and food.

This has really spoiled us over time. We have not gone out and bought groceries in so long that we forgot what all it takes to keep stocked up. When we met all our friends during Thanksgiving we were embarrassed for not having anything to contribute to the pot lucks! We did go out and  get some supplies but even then we tried to keep it to a minimum so it would not spoil while we were on the road.

Someone asked Sherri if she needed a cookbook the other day...Sherri's answer was she does menus now not cookbooks. We have even forgot how to prepare some dishes we use to love because we have not done it in so long.

OK enough of that...we need to get ready for our guest...so that means we need to clean up the house so we don't scare them to death when they come in. That is another thing about our jobs. We are in hotel rooms so much we don't have time to keep this house neat. Clean it is...but neat...NOT. We come in off the road...do the laundry...repack our bags...pull out the computers and printer so we can do our reporting...stack reports all over the house and then try to put it all back in order before we leave. Well as you know some things get put away and some things don't. This leaves you with clutter that has to be dealt with upon our return home...and it all starts over again.

WAAA WAAA WAAA I know what a tuff life! We will get over it. I know that when we stop doing this job we will have to acclimate ourselves to being more efficient and learn how to plan meals...buy groceries...and cook. We both look forward to that time.

Starting in January of next year we will be on a reduced work schedule. We will be doing only the sets with the team and no more...what we called filler jobs. We don't want those extra hours and travel...we will spend more time going where we want to go. This will put us on call for the team sets and free us up to do some short trips of a week or two.

Mark and Dortha got here about 1:30 and we visited until 4:00. We were starting to get weak when we decided to go and eat at Texas Land and Cattle just up the street from the park. We had such a good time visiting there that we forgot what time it was. Mark and Dortha had to drive back to Ft. Worth so we had to say good-bye. We just hated to part company and made plans to get back together...

Somewhere in Time

  

Looking back Somewhere in Time

Sherri and I laid in bed this morning waiting for the furnace to warm up the house. Once it kicked off I got up and went down to the kitchen and put the coffee on. Sherri was not too far behind me. When the coffee was done I poured us both a cup and we say in the recliners...blankets over us...and watched the sun come up over the lake.

I got on the computer and went to Facebook where I decided to change my picture. When I was going through the pictures I found some old shots of Sherri and I. I just had to share them with you

Now I see how far I need to go to return to that waist size...I guess I better get started on that diet....

Somewhere in Time

Home Sweet Home

 

 

We left Arkadelphia Arkansas around 2:00 pm and headed down the highway to Lake Tawakoni. We had a short stop there at our barn to drop off dirty clothes and pick up some things we needed to take to Lake Lewisville. We arrived at our lot about 5:30 after an uneventful trip on Interstate 30.

We got our stuff unloaded and the other loaded and we were once more on our way down another highway. By the time I pulled into the park I was road weary and ready for some recliner time. We both collapsed into our chairs and sat there staring out the windows at the lights on the other side of the lake...The light shimmering off the surface of the water hypnotized us both.

When we came out of our hypnotic state we both got ready for bed. We have a long day tomorrow with laundry and shopping. We have this weekend to get all our chores done before we leave for Louisiana. We will be there for two weeks...at which time we will work in a casino...

Somewhere in Time

 

On the road to Hickory Creek

 

We got out of bed this morning reluctantly. We have to move today to a new park about 1 hour from Cowboy RV Park. No mater how long or short the trip you have to prepare the same way. We fixed our coffee and sat in the living room talking about our route to the north. We noticed that the wind was blowing pretty good out there and knew that we would be fighting a side wind part of the way up there.

It was about 9:00 am when Brenda knocked on the door and came in to visit. She said that she was feeling better. She was sick yesterday and we all missed her going with us. She stayed for some time visiting with Sherri while I stepped outside to finish some chores.

Brenda left and Deb came in. Everyone was in their Jammies. Then Dortha came in and she was dressed. They all wanted to say good-bye.

While all this was going on I was outside wrapping up the blue chores. All the guys came by to say good-bye and then I put the finishing touches on the rig and it was ready to roll. It is hard to say so long for a while to friends that you enjoy being around. We know that we will meet up again soon but it is still hard.

I started the diesel up and we began to roll out of the site. All the while Brenda and John were taking pictures while Deb and Rod waved us on. We will miss all you guys and will talk about all the fun moments we had this past week until we meet again...

Somewhere in Time

We want to thank all our Dreamer Friends for a wonderful Thanksgiving...One filled with stories so funny our sides would hurt long after we called it a night. Also want to thank the girls for all the wonderful food that they prepared for us. This is what makes this life style so unique and builds memories that we will take to the front porch rocker when our traveling days are through

Thanks from the two of us....

Joe and Sherri

 

More Fun With Friends

 

I was up and down last night...just could not get the temp to regulate. It was cold outside but not cold enough to run the heat. Our home gets warm real fast but once warm it stays warm so the heater just has to be manually turned off and on. I could use the furnace but then I would have to use my propane...I know...I am tighter than Dick's hatband.

Well I did get some sleep once I got settled in. It was 7:00 am before I knew it. The sun was just starting to peep over the horizon. I rolled over and pondered whether or not to get up now and fix coffee or wait. That is when I noticed Sherri was not in bed. I got up and went down to the living room and found her curled up on the recliner. She had woke up not feeling well and got out of bed not wanting to wake me up.

I went ahead and put the coffee on and went to take my shower. Today we had all planned on going to Cabello's to shop for stuff. The girls wanted to go to Penzeys to buy spices. So we headed out to Penzeys first. As soon as we were finished there everyone was hungry so we went next door to Goff's hamburgers for lunch. I did not know they were still in business! We had a good meal and then we were on to Cabello's. After getting lost going and coming we finally made it there and shopped for good while. Sherri and I did not buy anything but we had fun looking at all the supplies they have for campers.

We left Cabello's and returned to the RV park about 5:30. We planned on leaving for dinner about 6:00 so we had time to change and get ready. I walked down to see if everyone was ready and found out that Brenda was still not feeling well. I guess she had just over done the days before. We missed having her along on the trips to the store and out to eat. She has a way of keeping us all laughing and in a good humor. Get well Brenda!!!

We all pilled into two cars and drove off to the Chinese Restaurant in Fort Worth...or was it Benbrook? We stay so lost around here! We had a lot of laughs and ate some good food. I forgot my camera again! John and Deb got some pictures of which I will have to steal one. After dinner we all drove back to the park and headed off to our homes. We leave tomorrow and feel sad about parting from all our friends. We will miss them until we meet up again...

Somewhere in Time

What a way to start off Thanksgiving Day

My eyes blinked open this morning about 7:15. Sherri was still asleep. I laid there for a while thinking about what all I needed to do today and then I realized it was Thanksgiving Day!

I swung my legs out of bed and and pulled the rest of me out from under the covers. It did not feel cool inside which is a good thing because they are calling for colder weather to hit today. I beat the cold weather up and I told myself I would have time to finish some projects outside before the first blast of cold air hit the park.

I went down into the kitchen and got the coffee on. I took my shower and then went back to the kitchen to pour me a cup. While reaching around to get a spoon I drug the vegetable chopper off the counter and thanks to gravity it went to the floor cutting my big toe.

OK so here I am hopping around in the kitchen...toe bleeding...me trying to find the paper towels...and trying not to bleed all over everything. I finally got a towel off the dispenser and held it on the cut. This was not working at all so I had to call Sherri and wake her up. She told me to come to the bedroom so she could see to me but I told her that would not be a good idea seeing as how I was bleeding pretty good. She said that she would bring me a band-aide and some antibiotic. Well when she got down to the kitchen and saw the cut toe...Sherri does not do good with blood...she had to sit down and compose herself.

She did get herself together and bandaged up my wound. We do not have any tape for cuts so we had to use some packaging tape and a paper towel for my dressing. All is well now.

Sherri said that she would need to go to Wally World to get some things for tonight. While she was there she would get me some real bandages. I just sat back and tuned in the football game.

Here I set in my recliner toe in the air bandaged with a paper towel some packaging tape and a white sock pulled over it. I will have to remain here most of the day.

We do have football games today so I will be able to recline here and watch them. The weather outside is not conducive to setting out so all will be well with me. I just want to be able to eat with everyone for Thanksgiving. We are having Taco Soup and it sounds soooo good. I can't wait for that first bowl.

The time finally arrived for us to go to the activity room and eat. Sandy and Brenda made taco soup and let me tell you they were both delicious. We had corn bread and salad and for dessert we had apple pie and pecan pie with vanilla ice cream on top! OK so it's not on my diet...this is Thanksgiving.

We all watched the Cowgirls get beat by the Saints...Go Saints! We all wanted to watch the A&M game but it was not on the cable channels we have so everyone packed up and went home. We had a wonderful time with all our friends this Thanksgiving. Sandy and Weldon will be leaving tomorrow for Canton Texas. Soon we will all separate and go our different ways but we will always have these memories we made...

Somewhere in Timer

A Wonderful Day With Friends

I heard Sherri's phone alarm going off somewhere but could not tell what the location was. I was laying in bed trying to hone in on the sound so I could go and turn it off but I could not. OK so I will get up and go find it. I really did not want to get up but I knew that I would not be able to go back to sleep until I turned it off. I finally found it and crawled back into bed. My eyes would not shut now... so I was back up... down to the kitchen and made some coffee.

Sherri was up now and we both waited for the coffee to complete its cycle. I fixed us both a cup and brought Sherri her cup. We sat for some time drinking our coffee and talking about staying here until Saturday. We will have to be at Hickory Creek on Sunday. We have a reservation for then and it cost if you cancel it. We need to get there because we will be leaving for Mexia Texas on Sunday night.

Sherri and I finished our coffee and decided to take our walk for the day. We really like to walk at least one mile a day to stay in shape. We did not realize how large this park was until we completed our stroll. On the return trip down to our site we spotted John and Mark out working on their rigs. We stopped off and visited for a while and then we returned home for a shower.

The guys got together and headed out to Camping World for supplies and the girls packed up for a shopping trip in town. We would meet back at the park later and make plans for our dinner tonight. The girls put together some BBQ...dips and chips and came over to our house. We had a good time visiting and eating. The girls could not set still for long and they were back out shopping again!

 

John, Mark, Weldon, Rod and I sat around and talked until they returned. We had hoped that they would return with Blue Bell ice cream but that did not happen. We all went outside to visit some more...the weather was nice...the wind had died down and the temps were still pleasant.

It was about 10:00 pm when we all said our good nights and headed to our homes.

Another wonderful day with friends had come to a close...

Somewhere in Time

The gang is all here

 

Ahhhh! another beautiful morning out there...I think...it is still dark and I hear Sherri down stairs fixing the coffee. I opted out to lay there for a few more...then the aroma of coffee started filtering through the bedroom and I had to follow it. She had my cup out and ready for me to pour. I have to be the luckiest man in the world today!

Here we are waiting for the rest of our friends to show up. This will be a great weekend for sure. Mark and Dortha are coming up from the south...John and Brenda are coming in from the north...and Deb and Rod trucking east and soon all will converge on our location. Sherri, Sandy, Weldon and I are settled in here waiting on their arrival.

The first to arrive are Brenda and John. We all headed out to great them. Hugs were exchanged and Weldon and Sandy were introduced to the two of them...whom by the way had been long lost friends over the Internet for some time. How great is it to meet folks you have been chatting with for years and now you are shaking hands with them. This is a great life style...I don't care what you say!

Next was Mark and Dortha. We converged on their site to welcome them and then backed off while they got set up. Soon we were all gathered in a circle to visit. Soon all the stories were told some flowered up and some just down right true. We laughed and snaked for some time. Not too much later the last of our party came rolling in. Deb and Rod had arrived from a long journey from Abilene. Once again hugs and hand shakes were traded and then we retreated so they could get set up.

It did not take them long to get their things in order and they came over to join in the visit and story telling. We sat around until dark and decided it was time to head into town to get some dinner. Mark and Dortha knew of a BBQ restaurant that we could get some good food at. We all piled into two cars...guys in one and gals in the other...and off we went to eat.

We had a great meal and continued to tell stories and laugh until we all hurt! We over stayed our welcome at the restaurant and when we saw them locking up the kitchen we knew it was time to get going. Back in the cars and we were off.

We visited for a short while upon our return but eyes started to get heavy and we all decided to call it a night...

Somewhere in Time

Thanksgiving is just around the corner

Sherri and I are up early this morning getting our house ready to move to Ft Worth Texas. We have changed our original plans so that we can meet up with some of our Dreamer friends at the Cowboy RV park on I-20. Sherri was finishing the laundry while I unpack some of the things we don't need and load up some of the things we will need. This is a process we go through when traveling.

It was about 10:00 am when we pulled in the last slide and headed out of the driveway. It was Sunday and we did not expect too much traffic on the route we would take to the park. We had contacted John and Brenda and Sherri at the last minute had talked to Dortha and Mark to find out when they all would be arriving. As we found out they would not be arriving until the next day but this would give us some time to set up and be ready for the fun to begin.

The drive was uneventful except for the bad highway between Terrell Texas and Forney. Whoever built that stretch of road need not build any more! We arrived at what our GPS said was the exit to the park only to find out that these instructions were incorrect. We both knew that the park was not were she was taking us and good thing for us we followed our own instincts and pulled into the park safely.

It was only last week when Sherri and I were in this area setting a store. We had passed this park so we knew just about where it was. We got out and went inside to get our assigned spot and upon talking to the lady at the desk found out that some more of our close friends had already arrived. We did not know that Weldon and Sandy would be coming this week. We had not seen them in some time and were excited about getting to visit with them.

We got set up and headed down to let them know we were here. I knocked on the door and Weldon met me with a mouth full of crackers. "Come on in", he said. And we had a great visit...catching up on all the news.

Plans were made to go to diner that night. We would meet up around 5:00 and go to Weatherford for pizza at Nizza Pizza. We ordered two medium pizzas and had plenty left for lunch the next day.

We had to make our Wally World run after diner to load up on some needed items. Weldon and I found a comfortable bench up front where we could spot the girls as soon as they finished shopping. Believe it or not they did not take long.

It was just a short hop down the Interstate to the park. We said our good nights and we were off to bed. It turned out to be a wonderful day with great friends...

Somewhere in Time

Up to Denton for the Day

 

What the....Who is calling me this early in the morning??? Hello...Hello Oh it is my wake up call. DUH! Yes I left a wake up call so I would not over sleep. Now that we have so much time off between jobs I am not use to getting up this early in the morning so a wake up call is the only way that I can get up.

Sherri was still sleeping when I rolled out of bed and headed to the shower. I try to get up and get myself ready first in the morning so Sherri will have plenty of time to get ready. I got showered and got dressed in record time and then woke Sherri up. I always lay back down to squeeze out a few more minutes of sleep before coffee call comes.

Seems like I just laid down when Sherri informed me that she was ready to head downstairs for coffee. I finished dressing and then we both rode the elevator down to breakfast. They had eggs...bacon and biscuits with gravy! Man was it good! We helped ourselves and sat down. Soon our co-hearts showed up and we all visited while drinking coffee. We all like to ease into the day this way. Getting to work after a good breakfast and coffee sure makes the day go better. Here again the store was not feeding us so we had to buy our own lunch today. We worked a little longer and made lunch about 3:00.

We stopped at Applebee's and just had a light lunch. Then we all drove to Denton to the hotel. We arrived around 4:30 and checked in. We all decided to meet back down stairs in the lobby for the Manager's special...beer and hot wings. We snaked and visited to around 7:30 and then it was time to drive to Brahms for ice cream.

What a tuff life this is! We returned to the hotel and parted ways. We would all meet back down stairs in the morning for breakfast before work and start the process all over again.

Up to the room and watched a little TV before falling asleep...

Somewhere in Time

What happen to the time?

 

 

I woke up this morning in Tyler Texas and realized how long it had been since I posted on my journal! The last few weeks have flown by. We have been at the lake working on our Casita there. Yes it is no longer a barn but a Casita. Sherri's half is complete and looking real good. She has her walls painted and trim in. The only thing that is yet to be completed is the flooring. She is thinking about installing some type of flooring that will clean up easily.

We have done some traveling in between working on the Casita and keeping the grandkids. When you are not working all the time the days seem to shoot past you so fast. We have enjoyed this time off and used it to our advantage to get so much done. When we hit the road we will not have to worry about unfinished projects at home.

But here we are in Tyler Texas and ready for work this morning. Sherri is in the shower and I am just posting away with hopes of uploading this to my site tonight when I return. It has been a busy three weeks and we accomplished a lot in that time. I wont bore any of you with all the details of our project but will tell you that it turned out well and we will have a nice place to return to after our travels.

Better head on out the door now. We have a date with a cup of coffee here at the hotel...then it is on to work.

We had a good day at work and it was a short day too. We re-set the freezers here at one of the stores and stayed cool all day. It has been raining here lately and being in the freezers makes you cold real quick. We had to find us a place to eat lunch today...the store did not provide us with eats. Usually the stores feed us lunch but today being a short day no lunch. We walked across the parking lot and had lunch at McDonalds.

We got back to the hotel after work and made reservations for our next week. That being done we made plans for diner and headed out to eat. Outback was our destination. We both ate a good steak salad and garlic potatoes.

Back at the hotel we watched a little TV and then it was off to bed. I will try to keep up a little better from now on...

Somewhere in Time

 

 

Moved on to Tyler

 

Up early and left late. We could not leave too early this morning because the Service Center did not open until 11:00. We took our time and drank out coffee discussing the last 3 weeks we were on the road. It sure will be hard to return to work tomorrow. This was a good test for us...having time off to see what it would be like. We both liked it very much and think that we will fit right in to this life style.

For now we have to get our house brought up to par and while we are at the dealership we want to check out some of the new models they have on the lot. We looked at several...one of them was the same model that Dee and Jim Walter have. It sure is a nice floor plan and we like it very much. I especially like the "Big Foot" leveling system. We were a little to early in the buying to get this system. They started putting this leveling system on in '10. OH Well...Always a day late and a $ short!..

We stopped off in Mesquite and ate lunch at Red Lobster. I had a sirloin steak and grilled shrimp. Sherri just had the shrimp and was it all good. We are back on expenses this week so eating out is the only way to go.

When we left the Lobster we headed to Wills Point to pick up our mail and stop by and visit with the kids. Jennifer made dinner for us and we brought some ice cream for dessert. Sherri and Jennifer made banana splits and that put me over the edge. WOW...was I stuffed! We left there about 8:30 and drove to Tyler. We arrived there about 9:30 and checked into our hotel room. We are both tired and know we need to get to bed. 5:00 am comes mighty early and we have to be up and ready to go. 

This week we will be working for the next 3 days. We will return to Denton and pick up our house on Thursday morning. We have the grandkids that weekend and will entertain them at Hickory Creek COE park. I will bring you up to date on how our week goes...

Somewhere in Time

One Down One to Go

 

One day of leisure down and none to go. Today will be our last day of doing nothing and then we go back to work. I have to load up and take our house to the service center on Sunday and drop it off for warranty work. We have to be in Tyler Texas on Monday morning to set a store. We will be working there for 3 days and then return to Denton to pick up our house.

So today we are just going to hang out and relax. I have a few things to clean up on the outside. If it is cool enough today I am going to clean and wax some. The outside has really taken a beating while on the trip. I will have to use the Solution to clean with...seeing as how the park here wont let you wash with soap and water?

Which brings up the subject of the environment. The tree huggers say that soap will harm the ground if allowed to run out on it. My question is what does all the oil and gas do to the water in the lake with outboard motors running all the time? How about all the dog and duck poop on the edge of the water here? What are all the tent campers doing with their dish water when they finish washing their pots and pans. Why are the same tree huggers using Dawn dishwashing liquid to clean up all the wildlife on the coast? Sometimes I wonder if we have a real grip on all this Green stuff or is it all touchy feely? We RVer's are more environmentally Green than the tree huggers that come up with these ideas.

OH well such is life...I follow the rules and smile. I have the Solution to clean with and will wax my little heart out without harming any living thing. Well I take that back I did slaughter 1020 bugs on the way back from Amarillo. Sorry!

This is the last day for us. We have had a great 3 weeks of travel and adventure. The rest of this year will see us traveling some more but for now we have to return to or assigned jobs. We plan on taking some time to rediscover the Gulf coast between now and January. My sister and BIL live down there and our good friends Connie and Rod of Rod n Reel also live in that area. We plan on paying them a visit as well. Not sure where we will stay there but I know we will find us a home for a while.

We are getting real serious about planning out our travels now that we get closer to doing so. It is not so much the name of the place we will go to but the direction we will head. South if it is cold North if it is hot. Makes sense to you?

Today...we have to go to Explore USA to drop the house off for some repairs. They are replacing a pocket door and a shock on the axel this time. We have a list of other items that we would like to have checked out before I 2 year warranty goes out. We do have a 5 year to follow up on but this will all be factory stuff.

Not much more to report today just have to get ready for the move. We will be in Tyler this evening after we stop off and pick up our mail and see the grandkids in Wills Point. I will report how our first day back on the job was tomorrow when I post. Until then I hope all our friends stay safe while traveling...

Somewhere in Time 

 

  

Back at Hickory Creek

 

Back in Texas...H O T

We woke up this morning in Amarillo Texas to cool temps. They said a cool front would be moving in and sure nuff it did. It was dark outside when I rolled over and looked out the bedroom window. I looked across the room at the clock that said it was time to get up. OK I know...get up and get started. It is a move day and I have a lot to do before we pull out.

 

Last night we finished up all the wash at $.50 a load and Sherri got it all tucked away in the closets and drawers. That is one thing we don't have to worry with for a while. Now all we have to worry about is getting everything stashed away for travel. First we had our coffee and planned out the day. Sherri made some tuna fish for the trip. We would stop along the way and have lunch and then keep on trucking. This will be a 5 to 6 hour trip to the Lake and I really dread that long of a drive. We could have broken up the drive but we had to make reservations at Hickory Creek due to the Boy Scouts being there. We got the last 50 amp spot in the park when I went on line.

Be that as it may we left out at 10:30 and pulled on to the Interstate heading southeast. Sherri found a real nice roadside park and we stopped there to eat our sandwiches. Back on the road again after a short break. We had a tough side wind until we reached Childress Texas...my home town. We topped off with diesel there and kept trucking. Childress is 1/3 of the way there GEEE it is a long trip.

We finished the last 2/3 of the trip visiting and counting RV's as they passed us heading west toward the Balloon Festival in Albuquerque NM. I just know that is where they are all headed. We counted over 300 RV's.

This passed the time for us and soon we were on I 35 heading south. Not far now I said to Sherri. And then it happened...traffic ahead dead stop. We sat in stop and go traffic for 45 minutes. Sherri and I both had to go potty and here we sat stopping and going. We finally got to the wreck that had us backed up and it was not a bad wreck at all. We both expected to see a major wreck with the freeway being shut down this way. OH well we were on our way again with only 2 miles to go to the turnoff.

We arrived at the gate and got our pass. By this time Sherri and I both were hurting for a potty break so we just pulled in the bathroom parking lot inside the park and went our separate ways.

We found our site and Sherri helped me back in with little or no problem. This was the last site with 50 amp service and it is one of the hardest sites to back into. This is probably why it was still available when we made our reservations.

We got set up and then it was time to relax watch some TV and eat dinner. Sherri made some tacos and salad. It was good and then we just settled in for the night. Sherri fell asleep while I watched the Mentalist and I followed suit shortly there after. We had a wonderful day traveling and we are thankful that it was a safe trip. Now all we have to look forward to is going back to work...

Somewhere in Time

A Day of Leisure

 

I always start my journal entry off with me getting out of bed and making coffee. OK so what's new?...That is what I do every morning and this morning was no different. I am not going to tell you that this morning...or did I. Oh well it was nice to sleep in and we were in no hurry to do a thing today. I have to finish filling out my report and get it turned into the office so I can get paid but other than that I am free to do as I please.

We did just that this morning. We sat and drank coffee and watched the weather and then turned on the computers and talked with some of our friends and shopped around and then read some journals. Over all we did absolutely nothing at all until 10:00 when I fried up some bacon and made some waffles for my lovely bride. We had a nice breakfast and then I followed that by doing the dishes.

Sherri made the bed and we both got ready to go to the Post Office to mail my report. From the Post Office we drove over to Super Cuts where I got sheared. I have been needing a hair cut for some time and finally found the time to get it done.

Hair being cut we went across the street to Wally World to get a few items for the RV and some food for the next couple of days here. Are you setting down...We have been getting out of Wally World for under $100.00 for the last 3 visits!!! I know...Have you ever heard such? We have set a new record for us this last few months. I hope we can keep that up from now on.

While at Wally World I picked up a Memory Stick for our Adventure Pictures. I have well over 100 and I want them to load up on my Picture Frame Viewer. I will spend hours revisiting all the places we have been this last 3 weeks.

We are going to make some chicken tonight and Sherri is going to do the trimmings. This may be the last time we get to grill out for a while. We have to get ourselves ready for the change that is coming this next week. I know that we will really miss all those sleep in days and cool mornings around the campfire. All good things must come to an end...

Somewhere in Time

Palo Duro Canyon 36 years later

 

Entering Palo Duro Canyon State Park

We were up early early this morning. We had gone to bed early last night so we woke up early this morning. It was 5:30 and both of us were drinking coffee in the living room. It was cold...yes cold this morning. We had to crank the heat up to knock the chill out.

We are headed to Palo Duro this morning. The last time we were there was 36 years ago. The kids were babies then and Jason...our oldest got a staff infection that showed up the first night at the park. It was after 10:00 pm so when we got to the gate on top it was locked. We had to make a phone call to the police to contact the gate attendant to let us out. The man came and opened the gate and we took Jason to the hospital where they gave him a shot and meds. We had to leave that next morning so we did not get to see any of the canyon.

This time we arrived about 9:00 am. It was all new to us because we had not remembered the first thing about the park. I did recall the gate going out that was locked! In the picture below you can see the building and the gate post. Years ago that post was wooden and there was a pay phone to the left of it. I was on that phone and there was an owl on the post about 3 ft from me. I thought it was a statue but when it took off flying I took off the other direction. That coupled with my son being sick and the gate being locked just about did me in.

 

We had decided not to camp in the park due to the 10% grade going down and the same going out. I did not want to put that kind of a strain on the truck so we opted to stay at the Oasis RV Park in Amarillo. Nice park if you ever pass through there.

The drive through the park was drop dead gorgeous. We drove the entire 16 miles of road and enjoyed every mile. We did not get to hike any but then that will give me a reason to return. We did find our old campsite from 36 years ago. As I stood there looking at it I could almost see the kids playing in the sand next to the RV. That was so long ago and yet I remember it like it was yesterday.

No that is not John Wayne                  Two good looking people at the overlook

Rock formations galore                        Campsite 36 years ago

Found me a house in the canyon      Sherri and I on the overlook

Sherri in the Informative Center       Informative Center behind Sherri

Outcrops on the canyon walls           One beautiful Ridge shot from the road

We ended up at the Trading Post and Sherri bought one of the Grandkids a necklace and I bought me one too...a manly one....OK. Then we started to get a hamburger there but decided to go back to Amarillo to eat a good lunch.

We arrived at Furrs Buffet and had a real good meal. I ate just enough and left there comfortable. Then it was time to go shopping...which I had told Sherri we would do. I went to the $ store and Sherri went to....Kolh's...where else! Then it was off to Penny's and last but not least we ended up at...where else...Wally World! If you guess all those stops you must know Sherri pretty good.

We bought just enough grub to get us to Sunday when we will drop the RV off at Explore USA in Denton Texas. No need to haul too much on the last leg of our adventure.

Tomorrow is a long travel day. We will leave here and go all the way to Hickory Creek COE park on lake Lewisville. There we will spend the last 3 days of our adventure with heavy hearts and memories of Colorado for ever etched in our minds...

Somewhere in Time