Found the tree

Yesterday we had plans on finding us a Christmas tree that would fit in the living room. We had built the fireplace in last fall and that was where we would have put the little 4 ft tree that we used last year. We decided to get a larger tree so we could use more decorations and more lights. Sherri had seen some trees at Target that were tall but not so big around. That is where we were headed this morning.
Sure nuff they had the tree Sherri had seen some time back and we bought it. Along with the tree we found some gifts from our Kansas boys wish list and picked them up too. We have just about got all our gifts bought up for this year and now we have to start wrapping and putting them under the tree.
Today will be spent with wrapping paper and Scotch Tape. Kris wants to help me wrap all the presents to Sherri and that will be quite an experience for the two of us.
Sherri will be busy with all the other presents going to all the other G-kids. No big children (with kids) will receive gifts this year...they are on their own.
OK that sums up this day...This is what it is all about...

Somewhere in Time

Days full of work

We have been really busy for the past three weeks. We have traveled to the west and to the east working at least 4 days a week!
All this will come to an end in February and we will be out of work and out of here. We will be heading south and hopefully will be in Galveston by March so we can take Kris to NASA and let him see all the space stuff. He loves space shuttles and astronauts so this will be a great gift for him on his birthday the 27th.
From there we will traveling east to Louisiana to attend the family reunion near Coushatta. Then we are on our own wondering aimlessly hoping to see as much as possible. There will be no plans no deadlines to meet and what happens will be what happens.
Today we will be leaving here in search of a Christmas tree that will fit in our MH. We want a tall one that does not take up too much room but has room for tons of decorations. Some of our best Christmas have been spent on the road in our MH.
This will be the last Christmas that we have to return and go back to work. We are both so excited about things to come and even Kris is counting the days that he can go back to Poppa's school. I have a fun study plan all worked up for him...which will include many field trips to interesting places full of history.
Better close it out here we have a lot to do today to get ready to head out on our Christmas tree hunt...

Somewhere in Time

No Black Thursday Just Web Shopping

Sherri got up before me this morning and I found her in the living room humped up over her computer intently  studying the page before her. She had found a web site that had all the Black Friday sales at all the stores. I could not believe all that was on there and you could buy any of it and never leave home.
Why in the world would a person want to sit out in the rain and the cold to buy something you could buy on line from the comfort of your home. All the shipping was free if you bought so much. Now that is a no brainner for me.
She had found just about everything she had been looking for in just a matter of hours with no drive time involved. No sore feet no back aches and we did not have to fight for one parking place the whole time! Yes there is a heaven.
Today we are going to make our Thanksgiving dinner. We have a new house guest..Emily Gale...she has a boyfriend that lives down the street from us and she wanted to come see us for the weekend...I say us...well you know what I mean. They have been out on our porch the whole time but it is nice to see her through the windows.
We know we will not see some of the kids for some time when we leave so it is nice to visit with them now. They are all growing up so fast and soon  they will have their own life and we will be uninteresting to them. You know Gramps and Grammy are old and don't know anything about living a fun life??? If they only knew!
So we bought us a smoked turkey from Brookshires and all the trimmings for a great meal. We will have a bang up day getting all of it cooked and ready for consumption. I love turkey sandwiches and chips...I guess that is my favorite part of Turkey day.
The sun is just now peaking over the trees. Last night we had a cold front push through and with it came quite a rain storm. I better get up from here and get this day started. Another day God has given me to enjoy here...

Somewhere in Time

Thanksgiving at Tawakoni

We had a nice wide spot with plenty of concrete.

I fixed breakfast for everyone...Notice our fireplace I built in...not a bad match??

This Thanksgiving we spent the day at the lake with Kris and Franki. We had planned on going further off but when our little granddaughter wanted to come and spend time with us we could not say no.

We were surprised to see that Tawakoni State Park was sold out and we could only stay there for two nights and then would have to leave. Being only 2 miles from  the park we decided to take those nights so the kids could ride their scooters around and Sherri and I could walk. We needed the exercise and the kids have a ball riding around on the concrete streets. All the roads out here where we live are not conducive to scooter riding so this would keep them entertained and we could keep a close eye on them.

The two days out there went by so fast and soon it was time for us to head back to the barn. I got the RV outside chores done and Sherri did the inside and  before we knew it we were back parked in the barn.
It was getting on to 1:00 before we got all settled back in our home spot. We decided not to do the Thanksgiving dinner this day but to go to Rockwall and shop for Sherri's Birthday and Christmas presents. Kris wanted to pick his Mom out something but we needed her there to direct us on what she might like.
On the way we decided to stop at Applebee's and have lunch. Sherri and I got the 2 for $20.00 deal and Kris ended up with the sliders. It was a great meal and we did not have to clean up anything afterwards.
Off to the store to check on gifts for our girl. What we thought would be a short shopping experience turned out to be all day and no luck on finding anything that she really cared for. We did, however, find Santa Clause and Kris got to tell him what he wanted for Christmas. Don't you wish it was that easy...just tell Santa what you want and then wait for Christmas and viola it is there under the tree.
OK so we didn't find that perfect present we did have fun looking and we did get some ideas of what she is looking for.
Today we are going to fix a Turkey and enjoy a great dinner. We hope that all of you out there had a great Thanksgiving and pray for your safety...no matter where you are...

Somewhere in Time

Getting Ready for Black Friday

Or is that Black Thursday...well it is Black no matter what day it is...and no I am not going to go out in the middle of the night...wait in line for hours to get some marked down off brand something that they will have on sale at a decent hour later.
I am just sitting here in the living room looking at my fireplace that I just installed in our MH. We did not have one in the plan we bought so I just got the one out of our old fifth wheel we had years ago and built a cabinet for it. Sherri found a stain that matched our cabinets and we now have a built in that looks like it came with the MH.
I have several projects like this that I plan on completing before we start the final count down in January. Gosh that is getting so close and we have so much to do before we can get out of here. I am sure we will have to put off leaving because we did not get everything done before the time comes. That is the story of our lives...we have always been slow to get things done.
Today we are taking Kris to school and then we are driving over to the State Park to see if they have any openings for us. We plan on staying there over Thanksgiving. This will give Sherri time to try out her new ride she got at Wally World. She found a Schwinn for $50.00 and it was not Black any day. This was a great deal and now she can try to keep up with Kris. Me I will be walking...which I need to do a lot of and try to lose these pounds I have piled on.
The Doctor said I had to lose 20 lbs three visits ago and that has not happened. Actually just the opposite has transpired and now I have to lose 50 lbs! I think I will just cut off a leg before I go and see if that will work.
OK better go and get ready for this day. Sherri is already stirring and she will need me dressed and ready so I can hurry her along. All is well here...

Somewhere in Time  

Thanksgiving Week is Here

We will be off all this week for Thanksgiving. How sweet is that. We plan on doing nothing in order to get ready for that time in our lives where doing nothing is the norm and meeting scheduled times is far far away!
Most of my 50 plus years of working were meeting scheduled times set by those that had nothing to do but make schedules. Now I will shy away from those things and do nothing on my schedule. If I don't get through doing nothing then I will take time the next day to do nothing until I get nothing done.
I really do have things to do but I have some time to do those things and I will get them done before we pull out of here.
Kris and Sherri are really excited about leaving and traveling to different places to see new things. Kris's Science and History lessons will be based off of our location from day to day. He will be on a permanent field trip learning every step of the way. We have plans on going to NASA in Houston and in Florida to see the space centers. Also many trips to the Dinosaur digs around the country...Kris loves Dinosaurs.
Much of our time between now and the time we leave will be spent planning where we are going. How much fun we will have planning our first route out of here and then plan on what to see there when we arrive...

Somewhere in Time

Still here just working many hours!

I have had so many readers email me on what happened to my journal. Even family members have called to see if all is well with us.
Well...Sherri and I have been so busy with our work and with projects that we have to get finished before we take off this winter. We got the hitch put on the Jeep...Now that is a story in itself.
We went back to Hayes RV, in Longview, where we had the original hitch put on the Liberty. Now keep in mind non of the Liberty's system would work on the new Sahara so I let it all go with the trade in. Come to find out there is a relay system that I needed out of the Liberty that works the break. Well that is long gone so now I have to buy a new one and that is going to cost me some $.
Oh well that has been the story of my life.
So now we have to make an appointment to have that installed and then we will have that part of our getting ready program completed.
We don't have a lot of time until we pack er up and head out of here so we must keep to our schedule and make sure all is made ready.
I cannot describe the excitement we are experiencing right now. Knowing that just a few months away we will be doing what we have planned to do for years.
Back in the 70's Sherri and I loved to go on camping trips in our pop-up camper and then later on in our tong pulled trailer. We would talk about the time when we could leave and not have to come back at any certain time. Oh how we longed for that time and now it is here we can hardly believe it.
Just bare with us until January when we plan on casting off these jobs and heading out. There will be plenty of stories to be told by me and you all will be the first to know what is going on...

Somewhere in Time

Need some feed back

Sherri is working this week and I am here alone. I have plenty to keep me busy with the screened in porch project and the biggest of all tasks cleaning out my shop.
I got up this morning and made coffee went in the bath room and took my shower. Ready to face the day and get to work in the shop. WOW! what a daunting task this is. Upon opening the door to the shop I realized that there was more to this than I had imagined.
I use to have a 16 by 32 foot shop with all the power tools in it that a guy could want. Now I am down to 14 foot by 14 foot and no room to walk. Much of this is my fault...I should of got a larger building but with my budget at the time it did not allow that. OK WAWAWA I need to get to work and get some room out here so I can work with out tripping over something.
I talked to my good friend Mark Hall the other day. http://rvingwithpoppa.blogspot.com/ He had called me in response to my post about the new Jeep. Seems he and Dortha had purchased a new Jeep sometime back and he was calling to find out about mine. Mark and Dortha have been our good friends for almost 13 years now. We have shared many good times together and look forward to many good times to come. Mark has been my adviser on MH...Jeeps...and much more over time. Now he and Dortha are into target shooting and motorcycle riding... so I guess I will have to get with him on what type of pistol to buy. I will have to draw the line on motorcycles. I had too many misses when I owned mine...so I will have to just stick with the Jeep.
We are still tossing plans around on where to go when we leave here. Not even sure what the date will be when we pull out but it will be in February for sure. I know that time of year we will be moving south but where is still a question mark.
I guess I better get to work out in the shop and get it in order. I hope that it stays cool today...I have no AC in the shop and depend on cool weather to keep me from melting out there.
I will check back in with everyone as soon as I get caught up on all that I have to do here...

Somewhere in Time

A dream fulfilled

I know it is dirty but it has been raining 

When the rain stops I will get some pictures taken outside 

For the longest time I have been wanting a real Jeep. You know like the ones we had overseas in the war. The ones that had no top no doors and the windshield laid down! Well I found one...not quite. Sherri did have some input and she drew the line at the small Jeep but did compromise for the larger Sahara model.






Yes I went and bought a new Jeep Sahara Wrangler. The top and doors do come off and the windshield lays down but we have room inside for Kris and some supplies.She let me test drive the two door but told me that I would not have one of those in this lifetime. I settled for the other and still think it is the coolest thing since sliced bread.
It has the navigation system built in with plenty of speakers for the radio and telephone. MP3 player hook up and DVD player. What more could a guy ask for. I guess I could ask for an Inverter but it has one of those built in too. OK life is good.




I am biting at the bit to strip her down and head to the mountains for my first road trip. It will be just me and Kris in the mountains. Sherri says it is too cold up there with no roof doors and windshield. I could not talk her into riding with us if we ran the heater and she wrapped up in a blanket. Oh well I think she will give in when we get there. Maybe we will stay down in lower elevations until she gets use to it.
I already have some trails picked out up around Creede Colorado that look interesting. There are some lakes up in the mountains that are calling me and my fly rod. Stream too that want me to try them out. Kris and I will be spending a lot of time looking for the next fishing hole...

Somewhere in Time

Lining up some projects for the week

Sherri and I are planning on taking the week off from work to get some things done around the MH and also some doctor appointments that Sherri needs to make. We have three months left to get things done so we can leave on our first journey. Seems like a long time until you start listing all the things that you have to get done before you can leave and then you realize that there is not that much time to work it all in.
I have an electrical project for the back screened in porch. I am putting in some lights wall plugs and a ceiling fan. I will have to do a take off on all the material that I need so I can go pick it up at the first of the week. Looks like the weather will be cooperating with me. Weather man says the temps should be cooling off for the next few days and that is good.
I am sitting out here in the barn/office/laundry room reading journals and listening to my Native American music that I love so much. I can't wait to head out to the desert and crank up my music as I discover new places that I have never seen before. No music is as peaceful as this.
While out here I managed to type out this post. I have been slow in posting here of late due to the work schedule that we have been working under. I know it is for the short term and I will be free to roam before long and when that time comes I will be able to write more. It is hard to relay the day to day drudgery of working. Who in their right mind would want to sit down and read about that. I can promise you this my adventures will be worth reading about and maybe some day my kids can follow in our footsteps as we travel this wonderful land.
Until then I will continue to sit here and listen to the heavenly sounds of the Sioux and Comanche flutes as they fill the air with the mystical sounds of long ago...

Somewhere in Time

Off for the week

Sherri and I made it back home last night. We arrived here about 7:00 pm and unloaded the Jeep. It sure was good to be back in the MH. Hotel rooms are not my favorite place to be but we spend so much of our time in them that when we get home it is so sweet.
Our company let us know upon leaving our last assignment that they did not have any sets coming up so they would have to assigns us some merchandising jobs close to home if we needed the hours. I let them know that I did not need the hours and I would take the next week off. Sherri is still pondering the idea of working.
It is never hard for me to turn down work. I enjoy the time at home doing my projects that are getting me ready to leave next January.
January is not that far off! October is here so that means I only have November and December to go. Sherri will be signing up for her retirement this month and then we can settle on our budget and get ready for the maiden voyage out and about.
We have not made any decision on where we will be heading but it should be fun no matter where our plans take us...

Somewhere in Time