EEE Gads…it’s Monday

 

No this is not today…but it was last week! Can you believe that

We were up at 4:45 and I jumped in the shower. Sherri remained in bed waiting for me to vacate the shower. I was showered dressed and ready to go in 20 minutes. Now Sherri it takes a little longer to get herself out the door.

We were headed to Clarksville at 6:10 and 30 minutes later we were setting in the McDonalds eating breakfast. It was nice to eat before we had to go to work. Gave me that boost all the way to lunch.

We decided to try out another restaurant that Bobby had recommended  to us. We went to the town square and ate at the Bistro. I had spaghetti and meat balls and they were delicious. I am not sure what everyone else had cause I never looked up from my plate long enough to see.

Work was over and we headed back to Paris and met some of our co-workers at Furrs Cafeteria. I had not eaten there in a long time and I was surprised how good the food was. They brought more food to the table if you wanted more! Not a bad meal and you can’t beat the price.

Back at the hotel we read journals and then settled in to watch our TV shows. Time to get up comes real early so we crawled into bed and closed our eyes and dreamed about the day when we will be freed from work…

Somewhere in Time   

Kris has a good Birthday

 

Sherri and I drove to Carrollton to attend our Grandson’s 4th birthday party. We had the party at the park in hopes we could play at the play ground and throw the Frisbee around. Well after chasing the wrapping paper around and trying to hold the piñata still so the kids could take a whack at it we decided to finish the party off inside.    

 

Women! Always taking over even on my birthday!

 

Four years!…just seems like yesterday.

 

Both Grandma’s help with the wrapping paper in the 40 mph wind!

We were visited by the “Hells Angels” My daughter and her husband rode their Harleys to the party.

Then we had games in the 40 MPH wind!

Kris had a great party and we enjoyed being there. He is growing up so fast.

 

Here is someone else that grew up real fast. Jennifer my youngest daughter.

It is not bad enough I have to worry about her being a police officer but now she rides Harleys. Those are my granddaughters on the back of those bikes. Now I have to worry about them too.

Jessica will be 16 in a week! Now I am really worried!

I guess the older the kids get the more you have to worry about. I will be real busy looks like…

Somewhere in Time

A day to relax and do nothing

 

We planned on doing nothing today and sure nuff we did just that.

Sherri put the coffee on this morning while I took my shower. I got dressed and made the bed. Then I went down stairs to have coffee with her and we just sat there and talked for a while.

We decided to watch our last rented movie and then caught up on our soap opera…The Young and the Restless. Then we ate some lunch and Sherri started a load of laundry. When it was done I took it over to the laundry mat and dried them. While that was going on I took the movies back to Wally World…Red Box.

Returned home and helped Sherri get the laundry back to the house. We then settled in to our recliners and took a nap. Yes Sherri took a nap…I think she is getting into the nap thing.

One thing I must mention before I go is that Kris’s birthday is tomorrow. We will be headed there to celebrate. He will be 4 years old. We will stay the night with him and then leave for Paris Sunday around noon time. I will have some pictures of the party on tomorrows entry…which will not be posted until we get to Paris.

Until then we will be thinking about all of you and look forward to reading about all you have done…

Somewhere in Time

Met Another Friend

This is the last day of work this week and Sherri and I are very happy that it is here. We had to load the truck with all our baggage and check out. Then it was time to head to Clarksville.

Once we arrived in town we stopped at the McDonalds to get some breakfast. We had breakfast there and then headed across the street to the store. We put in a good day and before it was over I met another friend.

Bobby Cornelius…Bobby if I got that last name wrong please let me know. I am terrible at names. Bobby came along just in the nick of time. We were about to go to lunch and Bobby knew all the good places in town. He gave us a list of places to eat. Bobby how can I thank you. It is so nice to meet my readers when we are traveling. Everyone is so nice and I look forward to meeting more of our readers out there.

We chose the Mexican food restaurant over the Italian and Bobby I will have to tell you that if the Italian is as good as the Mexican food then I can’t wait to eat there.

Well we had a two hour drive back to our RV Park. It sure was good to get back. We stopped and had a bite to eat and picked up some movies. We spent the rest of the evening watching our movies. We have one left over for tomorrow.

That is a wrap for this day. Sherri and I are really tired tonight and are ready to turn in…

Somewhere in Time

No Foul No Penalty

 

I want everyone to know that I was the one that asked the question of what was said by our VP. Cyndi plain and simple told me! WOW…Cyndi that is OK and I am sure you had no intention of offending any of my readers. We are family and I hope that we all can be open minded enough to see that Cyndi had good intentions.

OK now I want everyone to know that this old man is tired tonight. Sherri and I were up at 5:00 and we have been going strong since that time. We put in a hard day today re-setting many sections of the store in Clarksville. When 5:00 rolled around this afternoon we were both ready to head to the motel.

Sherri wanted to explore some other parts of Paris when we pulled back into town. She was looking for a new place to eat and this took us to the West side of town which did not reveal any new places. We circled the loop and ended up back in our neighborhood. Got some chicken from Chicken Express and went back to the motel room.

Tonight is Idol so we will be watching it to see who stays and who goes…

Somewhere in Time

Work Day

 

We were up early this morning and headed to work in Clarksville. We stopped by the local McDonald to get some breakfast…and then on to work.

Heard something about our Vice President tonight on TV but never heard what was said? Anyone hear what he said.

I think I will just have some short comments this week until I find something that you would be interested in reading. This will be a four day work week so I should be ready to head home when this is all over…

Somewhere in Time

Headed to Work

 

Now some of you may not know this but I went back to work to help get us some insurance premiums put back for Sherri. This way she would be covered until her retirement income starts coming in and then she would be able to handle those premiums without working. OK that being said this is Monday morning and we are up getting ready to go to the job to make some of that money today.

If you have insurance through a program that is set up in your retirement please drop to your knees and bless the company that kept that as a benefit. So many folks today retire with no coverage at all. I know why would they retire early then. The answer to that is…If you don’t go ahead and claim what has been promised to you from the time you punched the first time clock then you will lose it to those that have never punched a time clock.

Now I am not going to jump up on a soap box here and start something but if you are a baby boomer you know what I am talking about. Social Security money has been squandered over the past 50 years to the point we are running out. It has been mismanaged for so long by our government that we will run out of funds soon. Now they are going to manage health care. Please folks everything the government has had a hand on is bankrupt and we just set back and let it happen. After all our policy makers are not good with investing money.

Now that brings me full circle to the fact that Sherri is retiring early so she has to be able to cover here health insurance once she stops working. The policy she will have will not be what we are use to having but it will get her past the doors of the admittance office and into a room without too much delay. From there we are all at the mercy of the medical system as we know it. I will not profess to know all the reasons our system is broken but I do know this it has to do with greed. Money makes the world go round and the glut for it puts many of us in a situation where we cannot afford good coverage.

I do plan on reading this new health care program and I will try to understand it. I will also pray that we can reach down deep inside our very souls and find the intestinal  fortitude to keep a weary eye on these people running this system and hold them to task. This is our chance to get on an even playing field…and I hope that our representatives in Washington do what is right for the people and not what is right for the lobbyist.

Having said all that I leave my computer now  and get ready to make some more money to put in the kitty for insurance premiums. We are nearing our goal and that makes me feel good here…

Somewhere in Time     

Did I Mention Snow

 

 

I snapped this early this morning about 6:00 am…those are some large flakes

This morning Sherri’s alarm was going off before 5:00 am. We have to get back in the habit of getting up early so we can get to work on time next week. We will be in the Red River Valley working next week…staying in a hotel so we have to get ready for that life style again.

I got up and went down stairs to make the coffee. Got it going and then went back up to take my shower and get ready for the day. Sherri got to the coffee first and hollered at me to look outside. I was drying off in the bathroom and took a peak out the window. I could not believe my eyes! I know I had mentioned that it might snow but in this part of the country you never know for sure what is going to happen.

The ground is starting to get covered and the road too.

Yes it was snowing and I mean rather hard. The ground was covered and it was coming down at a good clip. If this keeps this up the rest of the morning we could have a measurable amount of snow come the evening.

You’ll have to excuse the fuzzy window…but I was not going out to take pictures

I went back down stairs after getting dressed and poured me some coffee. Sherri and I sat there reading about SKP parks and all the options. Looked out the window at the falling snow and drank our coffee. What a peaceful morning…and my mind drifted off to a warmer climate…

Our poor truck has not been washed for some time!

We will be packing up today and moving to our next work station. We will be there for the week and maybe longer depending upon the size of the job. Sherri is looking at the possibilities to stay at. She is very good at sorting through all the hotels and picking the one out that suites our needs. We like to be close to the job and have some amenities at the hotel…such as free breakfast WIFI connections indoor pool workout room. The company pays for our stay so why not get all you can!

This Blue Bird was making himself at home on the antenna

The snow is still coming down and here it is 9:00 am. I need to take the movies back to the Red Box but I think I will pay the extra $1.00 and take them later when we head out.

We left out about 1:30 and went to Canton to get diesel and turn our movies back in. Then it was on to Paris Texas. On the way we planned to stop and eat. Chili’s in Sulphur Springs was the selected restaurant. We stop ate and then back on the road.

All along the route the snow was coming down…sometimes so hard it was difficult to see the road. The wind was blowing at 30 to 35 miles per hour making the snow appear to be passing horizontally in front of the truck. Every now and then the truck would jump to the right due to the wind gust. Needless to say I was a little tense all the way to Paris. 

  

We arrive in Paris at the Best Western about 4:00 and got checked in. I was exhausted by the time we got to our room. When we pulled up in front of the room we found that the maid had not cleaned our room yet. She was in fact just starting. Sherri had to go to the bathroom so we drove back up to the front desk to let them know what was going on and give Sherri a chance to use the restroom.

Finally the room got cleaned and we got to unload the truck. We were so glad to get in our room and relax for a while. Later on we did go out to Subway and get us a $5.00 foot long. Now it is time to turn in and rest up for tomorrow.

I will try and keep you informed as we do our best to make this an adventurous week…

Somewhere in Time  

 

Snow Coming?

 

Woke up this morning I could hear the wind and could feel it pushing on the side of our home. The rain was coming down and making a pattering sound on the roof. I could hear the sound of the traffic on the Interstate as it passed headed East and West. For a short time I lay there wondering where they were all going and then wondering how many of them where RV travelers.

Sherri and I had planned a day outside…cleaning and cooking out on the grill. I think I would be safe to say that that wont happen today. I know that the two of us will find an alternate plan to follow.

I got up and made coffee and then sat down at the computer to see what was going on. Use to turn the TV on but we don’t do that much anymore. We have such a closeness with our friends that we just like to see what is going on in their sitcom lives. Yes everyone has their own sitcom going on and we like to read about that better than watching Big Brother Amazing Race Dancing with the Stars and Survival. All those things are going on in all our lives everyday and it is real.

Sherri noticed that it was the 20th and that meant that New Moon was at the Red Box. I jumped on and rented it and two other movies…I mean with the rain and impending snow we need to have something to do. After renting I got ready to venture out in the nasty weather and pick up our movies. The roads were flooded and the traffic was heavy. I made it there and back without incident.

We fixed omelets for breakfast with our new omelet maker we had bought a year ago. This omelet maker is microwavable and does a real good job making omelets. Spent some more time on the computers. Sherri put her time in so she could get paid and I read a few journals.

Movie time…

We watched three good movies. Sherri and I have been hooked on the Twilight series! I know we must be goofy…maybe too much time in the house and not enough sunshine. I don’t know but we really like the two we have seen and will watch the third when it comes out.

It is late now and time for us to turn in. We watched the weather and yes it is still suppose to snow tonight…we will see what comes of that prediction…

Somewhere in Time  

   

Day 5 of the Black Mojo

 

 

Doesn’t take much to make me happy. 

Yes day 5 and we have an assignment. We have been told to report for duty. Today will tell the tell of whether we are on the road to a full recovery. Our boss assigned us to to some local stores in our area to do some checking on “Out of date products”. No assignment too big no assignment too small. We coffee’d up and and got ourselves ready for the day.

Not the rivers in Colorado…No mountains behind the trailer…but we are content to be well again here in our new site.

We had 4 stores in 4 different towns to call on and so we had to get going rather early to make the rounds and return to our nest. We did not know how long we could stay out so we were a little anxious about how we would do. Being the adventurers that we are we forged ahead without fear. Made it down the steps and into the truck once more for a memorable launch out to the highway and points beyond.

Has the Black Mojo left us for good? Will we conquer this day and finish our assignment with unsoiled clothing? The pressure was on and we would soon know if we had been totally cured or not.

Let me ease everyone’s mind…we did survive and made it on our tour. We moved like jungle cats through the stores getting all the items on our list done. Before we knew it we were headed to our barn to do laundry. We were not too for from the lake property and soon arrived…unloaded our laundry and started the wash.

While the laundry was going I worked on the deck some. With all the rain we have had here the ground had swollen up so that it had lifted the porch up and the door to the barn would not close. I did some adjusting on the footings and soon we were back in business. This gave me something to do while Sherri folded clothes.

We have not eaten all day so we left the barn and went into Wills Point to the bank post office and finally to the Brookshire’s for groceries. We found some good food for our late lunch. Then back to the house to eat and settle in for the evening.

Not a bad day…and all worked out well…working and traveling. We have next weeks schedule on our calendar so it will be time to start planning that trip…

Somewhere in Time  

   

Pushing the Envelope

 

Here it is day 4 with the Black Mojo. Sherri and I seem to be healing well and feel so much better. We got up and actually drank coffee this morning. We have been shying away from it all week due to the possibility that it might make us sick.

We finished our coffee and then got on the computers to see what everyone was up to. We get to missing our friends and their adventures and need to get a fix before we do anything else in the mornings.

We have to get some supplies today. Our fridge is running low of goodies and now that we are healing somewhat we need food to help promote our cure. We must think about the implications of this task…going outside the park in a moving vehicle. No toilet or diapers…no safety net what so ever! Can this be done this early in the healing process? How far is the store…what would be the point of no return…any bathrooms between here and there and the location of these facilities. All this has to be examined. Sherri pondered these questions one at a time and turned them over and over to see what she felt would be the best route in and out of town.

About this time I felt like I was planning a bank robbery. All I want to do is go to Wally World and get some supplies to last us a few days while recovering from the Mojo. We must have spent an hour looking at the route and testing our mobility to see if the trip could be made. I don’t think that Amelia Earhart planned this much for her flight around the world….but then look what happened to her.

We finally came up with a plan that we thought would work…which included enough time to get a few movies to watch. To cut down on the time away from the security of our home I rented the movies on line from the Red Box so all I had to do was swipe my card when I got there and it would dispense the movies and I could dash to the truck….well maybe not dash…I have to stroll a little slow here lately.

OK the plan had been made and we readied ourselves for the trip. Sherri got dressed and I put on my brown fighting shorts…that is a joke I will have to tell you some day…and we gingerly made our way to the truck. In the truck and all was well…cranked the engine…that is started the truck for those of you up north and backed out of the drive.

We made it to the parking lot of Wally World without any problem so we were getting a little cocky. Once inside we picked up the pace and got all our supplies. We then started re-conning the check out lines for the fastest one. Do you do that??? Do you walk up and down the isle and look for the checker that seems to have it all together. My luck has always been to get up to the training register and have to stand there while the supervisor shows them how to push the keys and tear off the receipt. Not saying that all checkers are morons just saying I always get the one that is not operating with a full bucket of water.

Found the register that seemed to hold the idea gal and pushed the buggy up next in line. All seems to be well with the stomach so far…no gurgling at this time and Sherri was holding up OK. No gas bubbles no dizziness all is well in paradise.

We unloaded our goods on the conveyor belt and began the wait for the folks in front of us to check out. Then it happen…WIC cards Food Stamps everything but money came out of this persons wallet and I knew then that we were doomed to excessive time in this line. Don’t get me wrong there is nothing wrong with these cards…my family has had to use them…but you understand we are armed and dangerous and we need to move on as soon as possible.

Of course the manager had to OK this and then Homeland Security was notified and they sent in a team of folks to check out the ID’s. OK I am exaggerating somewhat. We did get checked out…got to the Red Box…got our movies and returned to the truck. Trip home was uneventful and we were once more safe in our home…

Somewhere in Time

Thanks to all our well wishers

 

As many of you know Sherri and I were struck down with the Black Mojo. For no better word to describe this illness. We were traveling to Arkansas when it hit and we were really lucky that I did not fall to the Mojo until after we were set up at our mid destination.

Not to sicken any of you with the raw details but we were going both ends in our little home. Now that can be tricky if you know what I mean. Lucky for the two of us it all timed out just right and there was no conflict in the toilet room! I will have to say this…thank God we have sewer here. We had been staying at COE parks which are cheap but your holding capacities have to be monitored rather closely. In our case the capacity had to be monitored hourly! What is even worse is when the tanks get full “I” would have to go and dump the trailer…now that would be hard… me dumping the trailer and me dumping too. The timing on that would be crucial.

As it turned out we had sewer and our comfort zone was not breached. Sherri and I both are doing better and with all the well wishes from all of you out there we will continue to recover.

Our daughter Jennifer and SIL road their Harley’s over here to see about us yesterday. They parked the bikes out front and came walking up with their headbands and leathers on. To me it looked like a drug buy but then what do I know about that?? What is really funny is the next day my daughter came by to look in on us again and she came in her squad car. Now I am saying to myself what do all these people think is going on here. :)

This has been a learning experience…this sickness and all…to know that when it happens on the road like we are all the time you have to be ready to regroup and find refuge in a comfortable place. We have found it and now are just waiting out the recovery period.

Once more I would like to thank all of you for thinking of us. Knowing that you do read my babbling makes me feel good. I hope that one day my children and grandchildren will find time to read about Sherri and I and see what we are all about. You all have become a big part of our lives and we look forward to meeting up with you…

Somewhere in Time   

Sickness

Sunday morning we were up and getting ready to take the kids home. No coffee this morning too much to do. Had to gather up all the clothes toys diaper bags. Memories of when we use to travel with our kids came back. It was at least a day of preparation just to go to the parents house for an afternoon visit. Now here we are much later in life and much older trying to get ready to take them home!

We did manage to get all together and get them packed away in the truck. I had to clean Kris’s car seat before we could put him in it. He had been sick the night before and threw up on it while coming home from Steak and Shake. WEEE my truck will never be the same….but the worst is yet to come.

Dropped the kids off and said our tearful good-byes. Kris would not even look at me. He was mad that Poppa was leaving him and going away. Got back to the park…loaded all up and we were away to our new home site.

We were not down the road too far when Sherri said that she was not feeling well. The deeper I got into traffic the sicker she became. Here I am driving down the crowded highway and Sherri is really getting sick and I have to find somewhere to pull off and let her go in the trailer. I pulled off the other side of Mesquite Texas at a Wally World and let her rest for a while.

Back on the road after about 30 minutes with only a 30 minute drive to the park. We arrived there before she got any worse and she went inside to bed while I set up. I got pink and blue things done and then went in to see about her. I went to the store and picked us up some sickness supplies and then returned home to give her some medicine and make me some dinner.

I saw to her made some phone calls to work and hotel to let them know we would not be coming tomorrow and really were not sure when we would be coming. With that done and me pretty much worn out I kicked back in the recliner to take a nap.

About 9:00 my daughter called and I told her Sherri was not feeling well and that if I did decide to head to work that she would need to look in on her from time to time. Jennifer said she would and told me to call her tomorrow and let her know if she was needed.

OK I laid back down and about 12:00 midnight I woke up sick! I was so sick I could hardly move. I guess we must have caught this from the kids. Here I am out of commission and Sherri down for the count! This is not good. Does not look like either one of us will be headed to Arkansas anytime soon.

The house is a wreck we both look like hell and we neither one really care. Death come get me I’m ready. It is taking all I have now just to type out this…epitaph. I will have to break for now and return later when my strength returns…

Somewhere in Time

Baby Setting this Weekend

 

We were up early this morning…A non work day! Yes we got up and Sherri made coffee and then we watched the sun come up over the lake and enjoyed our quite time.

We get the kids today for the weekend. Janet needed some time off from them to get some well deserved rest. We have no problem keeping the kids and we enjoy entertaining them. We are here at the COE park on Lake Lewisville. We have plenty of room for them to play and the playground is just out the back of our home.

We don’t pick them up until 4:00 so we have time to get some things done around here. Yesterday we headed off to Whitehouse Texas to deliver some soup racks. That was a 2 1/2 hour drive there and then we had to drive back to Lake Tawakoni to do some wash and pick up some of our RV supplies.

We spent about 2 hours washing clothes and while we were in that area we took a drive over to the State Park to see what was going on. The park was just about full for the weekend. The weather is suppose to be real nice so I am sure it will be jammed before Saturday gets here.

We may be headed toward the lake this Sunday depending upon where we will be working. We love Lake Tawakoni and don’t mind spending time there. They have many full hook ups there and concrete pads with lots of room to walk around your house. This will remain as one of our favorite State Parks in Texas.

Today was dump day too. I had to dump our gray tank to have enough room for all those kid bathes that I know will be coming soon. I have a 35 gallon Gray-Boy and it takes two runs to empty the 70 gallon gray tank I have on board. I got the first tank full and hooked it up to the ball hitch. I started driving toward the dump station and noticed that I was leaving a water trail on the road. Stopped the truck got out and noticed that the hose had come loose from the latch and was being dragged down the road. This of course destroyed the hose. All I could do was rush to the dump before all the gray water leaked out all over the park. I latched the hose back and off again to the dump. Made it just in time to drain about 1/3 of what I had collected.

Back to the trailer for repairs I went. Found my extra hose and began to replace it. Got that done and filled the tank back up for the second run. This time all was well. I put a bungee on the latch to make double sure it did not come loose. Made it there and back without a problem.

Poppa…I think this should go on first…

Your right buddy it was suppose to go on first…My Bad…

By the way I got me a new BBQ grill. Got a Propane one this time for those occasions we don’t have electric. I spent the afternoon putting that together with the help of my side kick. We do just about everything together. I sure wish I could spend some time with my other two grand-boys. I had two boys and they grew up and I sure do miss them. Now I have three boys…two of which live way up in Kansas and I miss getting to see them. I am afraid they will grow up not knowing me…boy will they miss out…HE HE…I too will miss out.

Well Sweet Pea was there too. I can’t forget her….I know Sherri wont. She was up two nights with the baby crying. Teething I think…maybe just spoiled. She would cry and Sherri would pick her up and she would stop. Set her down and she would cry…HUMMMM…more than likely spoiled.

Overall we had a great time with the kids and they seemed to have fun as well. We got our fix for the month and until next time we will have all these memories…

Somewhere in Time

     

Someone we are Very Proud of

 

My Sarah has won a trip to NASA in Houston by publishing the best News Paper at here school. The assignment was for the students to design a News Paper and fill it with interviews that the students did themselves.

She gets all her talent from me!

Sarah’s Mother and Dad are Police and Fireman. Sarah interviewed them for two of the articles and some of the other police and firemen in Wills Point.

I was a little disappointed that she did not interview me…being an old retired degenerate I could have added to the paper somewhat. OK maybe I’ll make the next edition.

Sarah…Maw and Poppa are real proud of you and we hope that your career in the newspaper business makes you famous. Looks like you are off to a good start. When you get to the top and are interviewing the President of the USA please remember your Maw and Poppa and all the encouragement we gave you.

This day is over and tomorrow there will be no work for us. We are planning on relaxing. Well we will be baby setting tomorrow evening. That should leave us exhausted for sure. Stay tuned for that adventure coming soon….

Somewhere in Time   

Historic Gainesville Texas

 

Tuesday morning and we were up with the chickens…no maybe we beat them up? I don’t know… I know it was early. We are staying in Denton and when I woke up I had no idea where I was. I looked around and did not recognize anything. I knew I did not smell coffee brewing so I soon became conscience and figured out I was in the hotel room.

We are working in Sanger Texas this week and then down to Justin so we found Denton to be the central location to stay in.

We left out… down stairs to the breakfast bar and got us some coffee. They had biscuits and gravy and orange juice. WOW…was it good… now I can make it the rest of the day without getting faint. Really the only time I get faint is when I try to bend over. You think it might be the extra pounds that I have packed on when I retired? Well if you said yes you would be correct. I have to start dieting.

After work we decided to go north to Gainesville to find a place to eat. (forget the diet for now) While looking for that perfect place to chow down we drove down one of the main streets in town and low and behold we ran into some of the neatest houses we have seen in some time. 

 

Sherri and I love to drive around these old towns and see the old houses. We happen to find several here in Gainesville. We spent just a short time driving around and then we ran into Chili’s to eat. While eating Sherri and I realized that the WinStar was only minutes up the road from where we were. That led to a road trip to the casino. We spent two hours gambling and broke even. Time to go home or should I say go to the hotel. We had a fun day…aside from the working part…

Somewhere in Time

Monday Move Day

 

 

Today we were up early so we could head to Irving to pick up some soup racks. We have to deliver some soup racks to a store in Whitehouse Texas Thursday. Sherri once again got up before me and went down stairs to fix the coffee. I just could not move that early but soon I smelled the coffee and floated down on the aroma.

We did not spend much time visiting this morning…for we needed to beat the traffic over to the warehouse and get our stuff before too late. Coffee downed and we were both in the get dress mode and racing to get on the road.

We navigated to Irving faster than what we expected and had the truck loaded early. As soon as the boxes were tied down in the back and we climbed into the cab the rain came and I mean it came. Every time we have had to deliver material to a store it had rained…snowed…sleeted or hailed. Well today was no different and we now have water logged boxes in the back and will have until Thursday.

OK we had to run some errands also and pick up some supplies for the RV. One stop was Camping World. Kris broke his RV we had bought him some time back so we wanted to get him another. Well of course they were sold out. We had the lady see if any of the other stores had one and sure nuff the Camping World in Oklahoma City did. They are shipping it to us so we can pick it up Friday in time to give it to Kris when we pick him up.

We then traveled south down I35 to Denton and checked into the Holiday in. A brand new hotel and is it nice. We got settled and then went to the Cracker Barrel to eat dinner. By the time we finished dinner and got back to the hotel we were both wore out. 

Brant and Evan take time…very little…to pose for a picture

Brant is ready for the snow…is he growing!!

I got some more pictures of my little buddies in Kansas and I just have to share them with all the family that read my journal. Sherri and I are hoping we can take a trip up there before the summer. With us working now it is hard to get away that many days to travel. Any how I am going to plug some pictures of my good looking grandson’s in here. I hope they remember Sherri and I. It is worrisome to us that they will never know us. I hope that one day they will read about our adventure and learn what we were all about. Will that be a good thing or a not so good…:)

No matter boys we love you so much and pray we get to see you both soon…

Somewhere in Time

Sunday at the RV Dealership and an Anniversary Day…

 

40 years…and still friends.

Woke up this morning and it is raining again. I don’t remember this much rain ever. We have stayed wet for so long that we are becoming aquatic. Sherri once again was up before me and made coffee. I came down stairs and poured me a cup and sat down beside her. It was so nice not to have to hurry to a job or any other appointment.

We did have plans however…Cheryl and Don wanted to go up to Explore USA and look at the Carriage RV’s. We all planned to go as soon as we were all up fed and dressed. They have been looking at the Mobile Suites. They are smart buyers and want to shop all the high end trailers to be sure which one meets their fancy. By the way today is Cheryl and Don’s 40th Anniversary…Congratulations you two…Thanks for letting us share it with you.

 

Cheryl and Sherri at Explore USA after a long day of looking around

I can’t give any better advice to those looking to buy an RV. When shopping for a home on wheels shop the market for the high end trailers…In your price range…Yes be sure you know what you can afford and then shop the high end in that range. Remember this is going to be your home. Spend some time in it and go through the motions. We did just that with Don and Cheryl.

We sat in the chairs…climbed in the showers…stood in the kitchen…crowded into the bedroom. Yes we put each model we looked at through to the test. Don liked the “Big Foot System” for leveling. Mobile Suites has that too. Each item was evaluated for face value and from that they will make their decision.

We had such a nice visit with Don and Cheryl…Dreamers have a lot in common.

We really enjoyed our time with Don and Cheryl. We left the RV dealership and met back at our house for dinner. We had chili which was apropos for the weather. We visited and really had so much fun telling stories about our families. This is what getting together is all about…learning more about each other and growing closer…as Dreamers do…

Somewhere in Time 

 

What a Surprise

 

Well Saturday morning and Sherri and I both slept in. Yes it was 7:00 am before we batted an eye and Sherri’s eye batted first so she got to make the coffee. I…on the other hand…didn’t awake until the coffee was ready. How is that for timing.

We sat down and had our coffee talked about how soon we could pack up and get out of here. We looked out the windows at the lake as it splashed on the bank and then decided to play on the computers for a while.

We read different journals to catch up to all our friends. We have so many friends out there so many places and every once in a while we have to catch up with them to see where they are and how they are doing. I read where my close friend Jo Wishnie  is not feeling well…Dortha Hall broke a collar bone…and the list goes on. I pray for all of you and hope that good things come of these misfortunes. It is good for all of us to keep up so that our thoughts will be with one another always.

Soon it was time for us to get to work on our expense reports. I had to get the scanner out and get to work scanning our receipts and listing all our expenses that we had incurred over the past month. This is a very time consuming thing but we have to get it done today so we can get it turned in to the home office. This way we get paid for all our travels.

Most of the afternoon was consumed with this task and when we had finished we decided to fix our late lunch. Sherri had purchased some steaks at Albertson’s the day before and she had one marinating in the fridge. I readied the grill outside. I put the steaks on and Sherri fixed us some veggies and a baked potato. We sat down to a real good feast and if I do say so myself the steak was cooked just right.

After eating Sherri put away everything and I did the dishes…paper plates…HE HE. We decided to take a walk when the phone rang. It was my good friend Don Catoe. He started off asking how we were doing and mentioning that we had not talked in some time. I agreed and asked him where they were. He answered by saying if I would look out my back window I might see him….if the trailer he was looking at was mine. I looked and sure nuff there stood Don in the road leading up to our site.

Well…it was not too long we were all together at Don and Cheryl's trailer having the best time. It has been a long time since we had seen Don and Cheryl and it was great catching up with all that has happened since that time.

We had a wonderful visit and then we all loaded up and went to the store to take back our movies. Don and Cheryl bought a few items and then back home. We made plans to meet up tomorrow and head out the the RV dealer up the road to look at RV’s. This should prove to be quite the adventure…

Somewhere in Time

Working in Denton Today

 

 

This is the old court house in Denton….They don’t build them like this anymore.

I do hope this is the last day this week. Sherri and I have been working 5 day weeks…and at this rate we should meet our goal much earlier than expected.

It is real early and I have a little time to drink one cup of coffee before we both hit the road. We will be working up in Denton today and it takes about 30 minutes to get there. Sherri is in the shower now. I have taken mine and turned the coffee on and it is brewing while I type out the first few paragraphs of my journal.

Well the day went rather quickly…We had a pizza set that took us no time at all and before we knew it we were on our way back home. We are just down the street from our home and the drive time was nothing.

Upon arrival we set out to heat up our left over food from Texas Roadhouse. Not bad getting two meals for the price of one and having the company pick up the tab. We finished and then set to task figuring out what we were going to eat the rest of the week.

Before we could go shopping for our supplies we had to do our expense reports. We have to turn them in so we can get reimbursed for all the food and travel that we have done over the past month. This is a time consuming part of our job but a must. If I was more conscientious I would do a little each day and cut my time at the end of the month in half…but…

We got that all done and then took our list of supplies and headed to the Albertson’s. We shopped for all the bargains and ended up only spending $60.00 for food. Is it nice being on an expense report…man you can save some money!

Next week we will be back in a hotel in Denton so we go back on paid time. This will surely expedite reaching our goal and that means we’ll be on the road before we know it.

While at the store we stopped by the Red Box and rented us some $1.00 movies. We watched one and saved the other two for tomorrow. This will give us some time to relax and get ready for the next week of travel and work.

We are really enjoying our time here at the lake and plan on some hiking tomorrow and exploring along the way…

Somewhere in Time  

Packing up and Moving on

 

  We are back in our home for a while. This is at Hickory Creek COE on Lake Lewisville

We slept in this morning. Yes not often do we get to sleep in while on the road. We were up at 15 till 6:00 and Sherri beat me to the shower. I just laid there in bed and waited for my turn.

Sherri was not too long and soon I was clean and shinny. Fresh clothes and a cup of coffee made me feel like a million bucks. We had a spot of breakfast and then loaded into the truck for the ride to Denton Texas. Yes  we were headed to pick up our home but we got a call from our boss who re-routed us to a store in Hickory Creek. Actually this store is right across the street from Hickory Creek COE Park. What luck!..we are only 30 minutes from the dealership and when we get through working we can drive down the street and pick it up and then back the other way to the COE Park.

This all came together just as we had planned and when work was over we were up at the RV Dealership to pick up our home. It sure looked good setting out there on the lot waiting for us.

All the work was done except for a few minor things that we had forgotten to add to our list. Really we had no major problems with the RV just the usual warranty items that most people have after a year of living in their new homes. Carriage comes highly recommended by me and my wife when it comes to quality and durability.

After doing our walk through we hitched up the house and headed for the park. We did not have a reservation so we had to do a walk up only. Lucky for us they had a site open down by the lake. We have a nice view out the Arizona Room windows. The sites down on this end of the park have some of the best views here and we always try to get this loop.

I can almost smell warmer weather coming. The bridge in the background is the I35E bridge.

We got parked about 5:00…just missed the heavy traffic on I 35E. Unloaded the truck…about 2 weeks of motel stays…back into the house and then fell into the recliners for a breather. Sherri mentioned eating at Texas Roadhouse and suggested that we get a move on before the going home traffic jammed up the highway. The recliner was not even the slightest bit warm when I had to drag up and get back in the truck.

The geese are real friendly here but they leave a mark around the trailer that you have to be real careful that you don’t step in.

The traffic was choking about this time and the parking lot at the Roadhouse was overflowing. We were surprised to get seated as fast as we did. I ordered the ribs….full rack and Sherri got the chicken. Needless to say we did not walk away hungry. I have a take home plate that will feed me tomorrow.

We are now back at home playing on the computers. We had first thought we would be off tomorrow but that all has changed. Now we have a short job to get done in Denton and then we have the rest of the weekend off. It will be good to be off on Saturday so I can prop my feet up and relax…count my money and dream of that day we will be headed off to some distant adventure….

Somewhere in Time

Met Richard and Carol for Dinner in Daingerfield

 

We got up got our showers dressed and then headed down stairs to drink some coffee and eat some breakfast. We finished our coffee and got on the road about 6:15.

It was an uneventful drive in and the sun was just coming up. We could see it through the trees as we drove along the highway. The temp outside said 34 and it was dry for a change. I used the cruise going in and just sat back and enjoyed the scenery. Sherri read the map looking for a route to Daingerfield to meet Carol and Richard for dinner. Richard is Sherri’s brother and he lives just outside of Avenger Texas. We do not get to see them very often so this was  going to be a convenient time to meet up with them for dinner and a short visit.

We got off work about 4:30 and called them to let them know we were  getting off 30 minutes early. Being early meant we had to wait a short time for them to get to the Brookshire’s where we had parked to meet them. This gave me time to take a short nap and ready myself for some good food.

They arrived about 10 minutes after we parked and we discussed where we would eat. Richard knew of a good Chinese Restaurant just down the street from where we were so we headed over there.

The parking lot was nearly empty which made me wonder if the food was really that good? Once inside the aroma told me that it was going to be a good place to eat. I was not disappointed either…I ordered the combo plate of chicken and broccoli with rice egg roll and sweet and sours.

We had a real nice visit with them and before we knew it we had to part ways. Hugs were exchanged and so long for a whiles. We have always been a close family and as we all got older we parted ways to live in different parts of the state. Now we look forward to all of us getting back together now and again to visit.

We arrived back at the motel room about 7:30. Sherri took her shower and then we put together a spice rack for practice. Tomorrow we have to assemble several for the spice set at the store. This way we will know how to do it before we get there.

Time to climb into bed now and get some sleep before the trip back to DeKalb. Tomorrow it all starts over for the last time this week. We have one more night to stay here and then back to Lewisville to pick up our home. I can’t wait to get back in my house…

Somewhere in Time

First Day Back at Work

 

Sherri and I were both up at 5:00 this morning and really not wanting to be. We are back in DeKalb working at the same store we were at last week. Not sure how long we will be here at this store but we are both hoping that it will be the last week.

We went downstairs and had our coffee this morning. I had a biscuit with gravy and sausage and Sherri had to show me up by eating fruit and yogurt. I have to have a little more than fruit to keep me going until lunch.

Speaking of lunch Sherri and I had the best BBQ we have had in a long time. We found a place across the street from the store. The name of the place is D&J’s BBQ. Sherri had the one meat plate and I had the three meat plate. She had the brisket and my three meat was chopped brisket sausage and smoked chicken. The BBQ had the best taste and the BBQ sauce was excellent . I would like to suggest if you are ever in that part of the country go by D&J’s and try out the BBQ.

Not much else to write about today. We left work about 5:00 and went straight to Applebee’s for a salad. No we don’t just eat all the time…we actually do other things. Like right now we are watching TV and reading emails and journals.

This is about all for now maybe later I will have a more exciting story to unleash on you…

Somewhere in Time  

 

Back in Mt Pleasant

Arrived in Mt Pleasant just in time to get this much of a real pretty sunset

This morning Sherri was up at 5:30. I was laying there in a comma trying to put together my location. I finally realized that I was in a motel room in Lewisville Texas and we have to get up and get ready to go to my daughter’s house to help her put together a bed and hang some curtains.

We have to drive back to Mt Pleasant this afternoon as soon as we get through with helping Janet. We arrived there about 10:30 and after waiting for a car to show up at the gate…You see this is a gated community and we had no way to get in the gate without riding in behind a card carrying resident. We finally caught one coming in so we burned rubber up behind them and made it just past the gate before it closed.

Janet was not home from work yet but the baby setter let us in and she left us in charge of the kids. We told her good-bye and took over the baby sitting job. The kids were glad to see us and we were glad to see them. We had fun playing with them and then Janet arrived. By that time Sherri and I were hungry so we took Janet’s car to go and get some food for everyone. We had to stop by Wally World before we ate. We needed some grocery supplies and Sherri wanted to pick up a light weight jacket. Kris talked me into buying him some hand cuffs. Yes…hand cuffs! His Aunt Jennifer is a law officer and she has hand cuffs and he wants to be a policeman too.

 

                                                     Kris is ready to do some arresting.

We left there and went to Wataburger to get some food and while there Kris hand cuffed his Maw Maw. He had everyone in the restaurant laughing and Sherri was a little afraid that she would not be able to get out of them. I will have to say it was quite funny. I would have left her there but Kris let her go before we had to leave.

We got back to the apartment and I got started on the things Janet needed done. I put together a bed and hung some curtains. She was real happy getting that all done and I was more than happy to help her out. 

We got it all done by 4:00 and I figured it would take us 2 hours to get to our motel. Sure nuff we left and at 6:00 we arrived at the motel and got checked in. We got the same room back that we had the week before. We liked it so much we felt good about getting back to it. This is now our home for the week. Your correct when you say that not much is going to be going on in this journal this week. I have a tuff time making interesting journal entries when we are working 10 hours a day. I will try to find some tid bit of information that will keep you on the edge of your seat…

Somewhere in Time