Santa Came

Sherri and I had decided to leave for Hickory Creek COE for Christmas. The plan was made several weeks ago and then changed when the weatherman said that we might have a white Christmas! We did not want to get caught up in a icy situation on Christmas so we changed our plans just to stay here at the lake.
The weather man then came back to say we would only receive a light dusting and that the heavy snows would stay north of this area. So the plan went back into effect and we packed up and left.
We have some grand kids in that area of the city and we were hoping to see them at Christmas so this was going to work out great. It was Sherri's Birthday too and she wanted to visit with them on her special day.








HAPPY BIRTHDAY SWEETHEART
As things would have it the weather man was incorrect in his forecast and we got 5 inches of snow and 21 degree temps! Sure am glad I thought to fill the propane tank before we left out.

Everything worked out OK and we weathered the storm...so to speak.

Kris had a wonderful Christmas and we got to see the grand kids and as a bonus our oldest son met us and we had dinner with him and his wife.
We decorated the MH with lights and the snow did the rest. They say this is the first white Christmas this area has had in 40 years. I hope it is the last one I have to go through. I love to look at the snow but I don't like to live in it.
Before we could leave Thursday we had to clean the snow off the slides. This meant that I had to climb the ladder and shove it off and that was not really what I wanted to do. All I could see was me falling off and breaking a hip...MERRY CHRISTMAS!
I managed to get all the ice and snow off and soon we were able to suck the slides in and pull out.
Next stop was the dump and then we headed out on the highway toward Terrell Texas.
Kris had a dentist appointment at 2:00 pm. We pulled the MH into the Tanger Mall parking lot at about 1:30. Just a short wait and we had his teeth checked out. Dentist said all looked good and she could see some permanent teeth coming in. You know what that means...Tooth fairy time..How much are teeth going for?
Well we are back in the barn here at the lake. I hope that you all had a Merry Christmas and we are looking forward to a Happy New Year...

Somewhere in Time

Santa is loading up

The days are flying by now as we get closer to the arrival of that old fat man! I had almost lost that feeling of excitement when all the kids had left the nest but now with Kris in our lives we have regained that wonderful feeling Christmas use to bring many years ago.
Kris has met with Santa and laid out his wish list and also wrote a back-up letter just in case Santa has had some memory loss over the years. I think he must have it down now.
We are just counting the days...not just for Christmas but days until we head out of here. We have one more month of work and then I have about a month to finish up all the projects I need to do around here. 
It will take most all of February to finish up these things and then I will feel comfortable about leaving things here. Being that we will be gone during the colder part of the year I have to secure the water here to be sure nothing freezes.
I will have to finish the gates across the front of the barn. I have one to build on the side of the barn and then some electrical to complete. All this will have to be done before I will feel comfortable in leaving...

Somewhere in Time

Twas a winters day

This morning Sherri and I woke up with frost bite on our noses! Yes it got cold here last night and the wind blew so hard all night that my new motion detector kept coming on! WOW when it started raining I looked outside and the wind was bringing the rain all the way into the barn. I know every thing must be soaked.
We needed the rain and really need some cold weather. Our insect population has grown here over the years because we have not had a good hard freeze. It is only 40 here according to my Oregon weather station. I guess if it is going to get any colder I will need to wrap some of the outdoor pipes.
Yesterday I had an appointment to have the hitch put on the Jeep. When I got there they told me that they could not find my hitch. They said that the warehouse had sent it to the wrong address and that it would not be in till tomorrow. This is that tomorrow so I will be heading to Canton after I take Kris to school to get that work done.

I need the hitch for the Jeep so I can use my carrier basket. I will tote my Grey Boy and my boat in it when we travel. It is designed to carry 500 lbs and that will be more than enough for those items.
Well I am here at the computer writing and drinking my coffee and it is getting late so I better tie this up in a pretty little bow. Until the next time I will wish you all a wonderful life...

Somewhere in Time

Sherri is still shopping

Sherri left early this morning...took Kris to school and was off once more on her shopping mission. This time she took Jennifer our youngest daughter with her. With the two of them together there is no telling when I might see her again.
I decided this would be a good day for me to wire our other motion sensor light in the barn. I had installed one some time ago but it was at the back of the MH and did not come on when Sherri went out the door. She wanted one to come on when she pulled into the barn in the Jeep and would come on when she exited the MH so she could see.
We live out in the country and you never know what might be outside. This would give her light to go to the laundry room out back also.
With her gone shopping and Kris in school this was a good time to pull out all the tools and go to work. It took about 3 hours to complete the project and when Sherri returned she was pleased with the results. I do have to shorten the time on the light so it only stays on 5 minutes.
We are on vacation until next year and then the count-down starts.
I hope that everyone out there is snuggled in for Christmas and will stay safe. Sherri Kris and I would like to wish everyone a wonderful Christmas and a very Happy New Year...

Somewhere in Time

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