First Week at Lone Star Corral

We have had a busy but fun week.  We have met lots of people.  We have a job just learning everyone's names.  They have it easy.  They only have to learn two.  We are known as the "new managers" or Ron & Ali (my Texas name :).  We arrived at probably the busiest week of all - week of the Annual Meeting.  This is how our first week went:

Sunday ~ we got the motor home organized, attended our first ice cream social and found out our cell phones don't work to well here in the park.  We can get text messages no problem but actually receiving calls well that is another story.  We don't know what we are going to do for phone service.  The two major carriers in the area  AT&T and T-Mobile want a two year contract.  We don't want to do that.  We are going to check on a Cricket phone as that is a month to month plan.  We also had to make arrangements with DirectTV to come out because we couldn't get the satellite to work.  They are coming on Tuesday.  And we set our alarm for 7:00 a.m.  We are so not used to having to set an alarm.  But that's life as they say.

Monday ~ we had to fill out all the new hire paperwork.  And we followed Ed & Jeanette around, a lot!  But we jumped right in with greeting members and guests alike.  We kept hearing how crazy the day was but we thought it went fine.  At lunch I did ask Ron if he was ready to go home.  He said yes, it's just outside the door.  I said, no home, Blaine?  He said nope and I said okay...and then we both laughed and said "we can't go to Blaine, we don't have the money to get there!"  Monday evening we went over to the clubhouse to do laundry and watch my show "The Bachelor."  Well we did laundry but no go on the show...couldn't get ABC in on the clubhouse TV...bummer.  Oh well there's always next week.  

Tuesday ~ we were up with the alarm and ready for work at 7:55.  We had another great day learning where things are around here and how things are done.  Tuesday afternoon I went to the bank with Jeanette.  I will have to get pictures the next time we go to the bank...the tellers sit behind counters that were built in the late 1800's when D'Hanis was founded.

Wednesday ~ was more orientation, reading of manuals, learning the computer system and working around the park.  In the late afternoon we met Bob & Linda, fellow RV'rs and bloggers.  They came here to get their refrigerator worked on and Linda said to meet us!  Pretty cool huh!!!  They have followed my blog for quite awhile.  Linda came by our rig Wednesday evening and invited us to dinner Thursday night! Yippee...new friends and I don't have to cook.

Thursday & Friday ~ Ron and I were on our own though Ed & Jeanette were only a phone call away.    Thursday was pretty quiet in the office as the majority of the people were in the Annual Meeting.  Ron worked with a few of the guests/members around the park and escorted new guests to their sites.

Thursday evening we enjoyed a wonderful dinner of sausage burgers, asparagus and broccoli salad with Bob & Lynda.  We had lots of fun sharing about our lives, our children and of course, our grandchildren.  Check out Linda's blog by clicking on their name.  Thanks Bob & Linda for a delicious dinner and even better fellowshiping.  Be safe as you continue your travels.

Friday was a little busier in the office and around the park.  We said good-bye to Bob & Linda early in the morning and greeted new guests later in the day.  As we ended our day on Friday we commented to each other "this has been a good week and we are excited to be here, to make new friends and see more of this beautiful country.

Saturday we went grocery shopping and then did some work around the motor home.  We pulled the four totes off the roof of the motor home.  Switched our winter clothes from inside the motor home to our summer clothes.  It has been interesting to see people around here wearing sweatshirts and we are wearing tank tops...we think its warm and the members say it's kinda cool.  While we were out running errands we plugged into Maggie (our GPS) a few churches in the Hondo area.  We drove around and found a couple of churches we want to try out.  We stopped by First Baptist Church of Hondo and met Alan & Yvonne.  Found out services our at 10:45 and they are having a lunch aferwards and invited us to join them.

Sunday morning we woke up to a light rain and cloudy skies.  We went to First Baptist Church of Hondo and met lots of people during the meet and greet time.  The services focus today was honoring those who turned 90 and 100 this year!  We sang hymns!  Standing on the Promises, The Old Rugged Cross, and When the Roll is Called Up Yonder.  And in doing so they sang a medley of favorite Sunday School songs.  They included: Do Lord, The BIBLE, Jesus Loves Me, Jesus Loves the Little Children, If Your Happy and You Know It, I'm in the Lord's Army and we did all the hand motions.  Singing those songs brought back many memories of being in Sunday School for both of us.  The sermon was on relationships: our relationship with the Lord, he wants to be in relationship with us and us with him.  And at the end of the service the Search Committee came forward to say they have asked someone to come and candidate in two weeks.  He will give the sermon, they will have a potluck and a time of questions & answers and then in the evening they will have a meeting to decide if they will call this couple as their new pastors.  We think we will attend there that Sunday to hear the sermon and share in another potluck.  I say another because they had one today and we stayed for that.  It was fun to hear the history of the birthday honorees.  Between the honorees they had over 650 years of walking with the Lord and 465 years of service at FBC of Hondo ~ amazing and encouraging.

In the afternoon we took a nap and then have just rested and relaxed to get ready for another week of work.  Last week we set the alarm for 7:00 a.m each morning to give us an hour to get up, have our quiet time, eat breakfast and get ready to work.  This week we are setting the alarm for 6:45 and next week we are setting the alarm for 6:30 - we are doing that so starting next week we can do a 30 minute walk before starting our day.  We both have commented we have missed our walks that we used to do while working for the carnival.  And we have to walk in the early morning hours because it will be too hot to walk after work.

So now you are all caught up on our journey to D'Hanis, TX and the beginning of our new jobs at Lone Star Corral.

If you are ever in the area, give us a shout and stop on by.  Talk to y'all again soon!!!

From Kerrville to D'Hanis

Sunday, February 20, 2011

The big day arrived with drizzling rain.  For mere moments we thought we were back in Whatcom County.  And then we looked around and checked the calendar and knew we were in Kerrville, TX and the destination of the day is D'Hanis, TX, the Lone Star Corral.

It was a short drive of about 95 miles from Kerrville to D'Hanis.  We saw some huge ranches and beautiful homes and amazing gated entrances.  We plan to make that drive again in the Jeep so we can get some pictures of the different gates leading to the homes on the ranches.  Below is a picture of an old church and some other buildings.

 

 And then before we knew it we were in Hondo.  We stopped at H.E.B. - a chain grocery story that had a gas station.  Believe me when I say we will not pull into that gas station with the motor home while towing the Jeep.  Ron pulled in and up to the pumps and then we realized we would have to unhook the Jeep so we could back up the motor home.  Before we even got out of the motor home there were a couple of guys commenting about us, the motor home and the predicament we were in.  But what could we do.  Ron got gas.  I went into H.E.B. to get a few groceries that we had forgotten the day before.  By the time I came out Ron had unhooked the Jeep.  I jumped into the motor home and drove it around the parking lot and behind the gas station so we could re hook the Jeep up.  I was thinking as I was driving "I sure am glad that I decided to learn how to drive her."  I think Ron is glad too.

Once hooked up we headed west on Highway 90.  We passed "Billy Bobs" which we have heard is a great place to eat.  We have put that on our list of "must do's" to accomplish during our stay here.  We pulled into Lone Star Corral at 11:50 a.m.  We walked into the office and received a very warm welcome from Ed & Jeanette, the Assistant Managers.  We were introduced to Bonnie, the Vice-president of the Co-op.  After chatting for a few minutes Ed guided Ron into our site.  I followed them in the Jeep.  After chatting for a little while we made plans to meet Bonnie and her hubby, Ed (a different Ed from Ed & Jeanette) at 1:30 to go to Bill & Rosa's for lunch.

We got the motor home level, rugs put out, windows open, it was already 75', and organizing our home.  When we travel lots of things get stowed here and there, pictures our tucked away, the Christmas cactus is put into the tub (to avoid being spilled if we round a corner to sharp or slam on our brakes ~~~ been there done that). As we were busy getting settled a few people came by to welcome us to the park.

At 1:30 Bonnie & Ed picked us up.  We went to Bill & Rosa's for lunch.  They have great prices and tasty food and HUGE portions.  It is quite the interesting place with all sorts of things hanging off the walls and the ceiling and me, of course without my camera.  We will definitely be going back there so will remember to take my camera to show you what I am talking about.

After lunch and a quick tour around D'Hanis we returned to the park to do some more organizing and settling in.  In the evening we were invited to the weekly ice cream social where we were introduced and welcomed with a round of applause.  The ice cream was pretty tasty too and at only 50 cents a scoop it was quite reasonable and they had lots of sugar free ice cream to choose from too.  After visiting for a little while we called it a night and returned to the motor home.  We went to bed about 10:00.  Set the alarm clock for 7:00 as we had to report to work at 8:00 a.m.

Please join us as we give thanks to Our Father above for answered prayer on this journey from WA to TX.  We had some bumps along the way, shared lots of laughter with family and friends, shed some tears, faced some anxiety (me) and saw lots of new things and places we have never been.  As we went to bed on Sunday evening we thanked the Lord for this new adventure that He brought us too.

Stay tuned for our first week of work!

From Arizona to New Mexico to Texas

Knowing that Thursday, February 17th was going to be a long day of travel Ron wanted to be on the road by 10:00 a.m.  We were up and at 'em at 8:00.  We had a delicious breakfast of bacon, eggs, hashbrowns, sliced tomatoes, fresh orange slices and toast that Aunt Erma cooked for everyone.  Boy have we been spoiled as we have made this journey to Texas.  We have had some of the best chefs cooking for us:

Danalyn & Brandon

Aunt Joan & Uncle Don

Cousins Sharon & Jim

Niece Jennifer

Aunt Tiny

&

Aunt Erma

Thank y'all for all the wonderful meals you provided for us ~ we enjoyed each and everyone!

Before getting on the road we had to take some more pictures.  Do you notice the one of Aunt Erma taking a picture?  She is taking a picture of us as Ron was taking a picture of her and Uncle Rex. I just love the daffodils ~ Uncle Rex bought them for Aunt Erma for Valentines Day and we were able to enjoy watching them open from little buds to beautiful flowers.

 And before  we knew it we were crossing into New Mexico.  As you can see from the pictures we had a beautiful day for travel. The picture in the upper left corner is a type of cactus.  People cut the stalk off and make walking sticks out of them.

 And then we crossed the Continental  Divide.  We enjoyed all the different desert vegetation that we saw and especially driving with clear blue skies.

 During our travels on Thursday we had to go through an inspection station.  The Border Patrol Guard was very nice, just asking a couple of questions: were we US citizens, where were we from, where had we come from and where were we headed.  After answering his questions we continued on our drive to Von, TX where we stopped for the night.  Friday morning we were up early and continued on our journey.  Again we were blessed with beautiful weather and glorious scenery.  We pulled into Kerrville KOA about 4:30 in the afternoon.  We were welcomed by Karen from Womens RV Forum.  If you look closely at our picture you can see me being welcomed officially into the Forum as I receive my Flamingo Wine Glass.  And of course, we had to have a glass of wine together.

We spent Saturday in Kerrville with a shopping trip to Wal-Mart and getting things organized in the motor home.  In the evening we went out to dinner with Karen to a small Mexican restaurant.

Stay tuned for our drive to D'Hanis, TX and the Lone Star Corral.

Visiting Family in Tucson & McNeal, AZ

We left Scottsdale pretty early as we were woken up by our neighbors who started their engine and generator at 7;30 a.m.  Between the diesel coming in our bedroom window and the yelling from next door we decided to just get on the road sooner than later.  Below is a picture

We were in Tucson, AZ to visit with Aunt Tiny & Uncle Ken on February 13th & 14th.  We stayed at Voyage RV and Resort on Kolb Road.  It is a very nice park and huge!  They have a restaurant, pools, a spa, barber/beauty shop and activities that run from early morning to late evening.  The only thing we did in the park during our stay was go in the hot tub (well Ron went into the hot tub) and visited with our neighbors for a little while.

On our way to Tucson we saw a place where we could get the motor home washed.  It really needed it as we had driven through snow, 7 miles of dirt road to my Aunt & Uncle in Middletown and rain.  Below is a collage of pictures of the before, during and after.  The Jeep came out as clean as it was the day we picked it up at the dealer. 

 These are views along I10 from Scottsdale to Tucson.  Isn't the driver lookin pretty happy driving in the sunshine and not all bundled up in a sweatshirt and gloves.   I sure love that guy!

Below is cousin Erv and his lovely wife Anita, Uncle Ken sharing stories of his time in the Air Force.  Aunt Tiny busy cooking, a pretty cool spice rack (looks like test tubes don't they?) and Erv with Uncle Ken.

Pictures from Davis Monthan AFB.  Uncle Ken said these airplanes are checked monthly and can be ready to go very quickly if needed on short notice.

Uncle Ken & Aunt Tiny.  Uncle Kenny has always been Ron's hero and it was because of him that Ron went into the Air Force.  Erv & Anita and then Ron with Aunt Tiny & Uncle Ken.  We enjoyed our time with lots of visiting and eating something I had never had before Ham Loaf.  Will definitely be adding that to my menu repertoire. 

The morning of February 15th we got up and got on the road about 9;30 a.m.  We made plans to meet Phyllis & Len, fellow bloggers, just outside of Benson.  We enjoyed a tasty breakfast and great company.  All too soon it was time for us to get back on the road

 This is the buggy out in front of the restaurant.  Pretty dilapidated but was probably very beautiful in its day.

Our drive was an easy one of 90 miles to McNeal, AZ where Uncle Rex & Aunt Erma live.  Ron missed the turn onto their road and we had to drive about 2 miles to a spot where we could unhook the Jeep, turn the motor home around and re-hook up the Jeep.  Ron drove really slow so we would not miss the turn a second time.  They live on about six acres.  They have a house, a garage and a small shop.  And room to park the motor home.  We pulled in and around the gaage and the shop and parked.  We didn't even have to unhook the Jeep.  Shortly after we arrived we went for a ride to The Lavender Pit and the little town of Bisbee. It is quite the interesting little town.  And just as we went up the hill in Bisbee the camera died :(

Shortly after these pictures were taken the camera died.  What we didn't get a picture of was the guy with bright blue hair (reminded us of our carnival days).

In the evening after a delightful dinner of meatloaf (Ron's favorite), mashed potatoes, fresh tomatoes, cucumbers and corn Aunt Erma & I beat Ron & Uncle Rex at Spades.  We also played Spades on Wednesday before and after we went to see the cranes (see the movie below) and whupped those boys 5 games to 1!!!!  (Thanks for being such terrific losers Ron & Uncle Rex).  We'll let you have a rematch soon.

On Wednesday we got to see a very special treat...the cranes coming back to roost for the night.  There is a little lake about a mile from Uncle Rex & Aunt Erma's place where each year the cranes make their winter nesting ground.  Sure hope you enjoy the movie that I put together.

Thursday morning came to quick and then it was time to get on the road for our last two big days of driving to Texas.  Before heading out we had to take pictures.  The three pictures on the left were taken on Wednesday evening while watching the cranes.  The three on the right were taken on Thursday morning.  Thanks Uncle Rex & Aunt Erma for a fun two days. We loved the great food and all the visiting.   Ron says he can't wait for a rematch at playing Spades.  Maybe next time we can get Aunt Tiny & Uncle Ken to join us.

 And then we were off to Texas!

Sure hope you enjoyed this time with family...we know we sure did.

A Little Catching Up

It has been awhile since I have posted so thought I should do a little catch up.  Guess I should have checked to see what was my last post....

...so a quick summary and will elaborate in more detail in the days to come.

We had a great time at Ron's Aunt Erma & Uncle Rex's in McNeal, AZ.  The highlight, well one of two, was the gals beating the guys 5 games to one in spades.  But even better was watching the Sand Hill Cranes coming in to roost for the night.  That was so interesting, the sunset was brilliant and so fun to walk around the lake with Aunt Erma and just get caught up on each others' life.

We then took two days to get to Kerrville, TX where we met up with one of the gals from the Womens RV Forum that I am a part of.  Even got my official welcome and flamingo wine glass (I do have pictures to post later).

Then last Sunday, February 20th we pulled into Lone Star Corral in D'Hanis, TX just before noon.  Funny the address is in Hondo, the park itself is in D'Hanis.  We got parked into our site and some of the setup done before we headed out for lunch with Bonnie & Ed Mason.  Bonnie is the VP of Board of Directors of the park.  Forgot to take the camera to lunch but you should have seen the pepper steak that Ron had.  He ate half and brought home half and had enough for the two of us to share in the evening.  We then got a quick tour of D'Hanis and saw where the bat colonies are (under the bridge of the overpass).

Came back and got more things done around the motor home.  Then we went to the ice cream social where we were introduced to the campers.  They had so many choices of regular and sugar free ice cream as well as birthday cake.  We only stayed a little while and then returned to the motor home to finish getting things organized.  


We had to go into Hondo to call DirectTV to set up an appointment to have them come out...we could not get a signal at all.  Also spent about an hour on the phone with Verizon as we have little to no cell phone coverage at the park.  We did what the customer service rep said to do but to no avail.  We have to see about getting another cell phone or figure out what we are going to do.  We do have the land line that we can receive calls on ~ we just can't make long distance calls on them.  If you want our land line # or our address here in Texas give us a shout out and we will send it on to you.


Our first two days of work have gone real well.  I keep getting told "it's not usually this crazy, it's usually much quieter around here."  I think things have gone pretty smooth and not so crazy at all.  Ron is learning lots of new things too.  Today he read all the electric meters in the park and I made bills for all the units.  Tomorrow I hear it can be pretty crazy as everyone rushes in to pay their bills.  Wonder if I should put out a tip jar?


We have felt very welcomed by everyone.  Tomorrow I get to lead the social hour at 4:00 p.m.  I have to give a report of how many members and guests are here, ask if anyone has any announcements, and pass the basket of chocolate.  Don't think I will have a problem with that.  Jeanette the Assistant Manager said she gets in there, says what she has to say and then gets out of there ~ she doesn't like to be in big crowds.  


Saturday we are going to our first dinner here at the park.  It is a chili cook-off.  Should be lots of fun.


DirectTV came out today and we now have TV ~ didn't realize how much I missed hearing the news.  Was sad to hear about the earthquake in New Zealand and the four people killed who had been kidnapped by the Somali pirates.  If you think of them say a prayer for the survivors and families of the victims.


PRAISE ~ we are so thankful for all our friends and family who prayed us here to Texas.  God was faithful all through our trip even when my faith waivered.  


Need to close for now will get to writing updates in the next few evenings.  


Need to share a funny with y'all ~ last night we Skyped with Brandon and his family.  Christopher was so cute.  They have a hand held mike that they use and he kept trying to give it to us to hold.  He would hold it up to us at the screen for us to grab.  He then called the camera Grammy's eye is looking at him.  That got a huge laugh from all of us.  It was so good to see them all.

Proud to say that Max got all A's and 2 B's on his report card.  He is working at getting all A's so he can get $50.  We are proud of him as he was struggling at the beginning of the year with his classes.

Okay for reals now, I am closing for now.  Love you all.  Remember we love to hear from you so feel free to leave us a note and if you want our land line number or our snail mail address give me a shout out.

Sightseeing Around Scottsdale

Our first stop in Scottsdale was the West World to park our motor home.  It is a huge equestrian complex. Equestrian sounds so much better than a horse place.  We got all checked in and then found where we were supposed to park the motor home.  Ron unhooked the Jeep and I jumped into the drivers seat.  I can back this thing up you know.  Things got a little tense with Ron telling me to turn this way and that.  The problem was his hands went one direction when he wanted me to turn the wheel the other direction.  But in the end I got it parked.  See!

See how close I got to the pole marking our spot.  I am thinking I done real well!  What do y'all think?

The view from our back window.  We back right up on the polo field.

Another view of the polo field.

Various views of West World.

Top of the line horse trailers.

We have done a little bit of sightseeing while here in Scottsdale. 

It has been fun to play tourist though I am sure some of the drivers wish we knew where we were going.  Maggie does not always give us enough time to make those crazy lane changes.

Yesterday afternoon we went into Old Town Scottsdale.  

Saw some crazy things like a gal riding her horse through the traffic of cars!

Here's a movie of our time in Old Town.  Sorry it is another silent one.  I did learn how to add music to the movie (Thanks Rick) now I just have to figure out how to get the songs onto my computer to put them to the movies I make.

We had a lazy morning this morning but decided to go to the Penske Racing Museum in the afternoon.  Ron had wanted to go there for quite awhile.  It was interesting to read about the different cars.  We were told we could not take pictures of any of the orange & white cars do to legal issues between Penske and Marlboro.  I took a picture of one of the statues that was right next to one of the orange & white cars and the gal there was immediately by my side asking me if I had taken a picture of that car.  No mam, just the statue.  I told her she could 

check my camera but she said no that was okay.  Hope you enjoy these pictures as much 

as Ron enjoyed checking them all out.  

  

I even got up close and personal with a couple of Bentley's.

 

 

Which one should I choose?  $125,000 or $245,000?  You decide.

 

 

Our Trip to Texas so Far...from Blaine to Quartzsite

Thought it was time to show you some of the places we have been so far on our trip.  I have put together collages of different people and places we have been.  I have also made one movie (silent at that because I can't figure out how to put music to a video much less figure out where to find said music).  Hope you enjoy travelin along with us.

Breakfast with the Workentin Family on Sunday, January 23, 2011

Isn't Miss Opal the cutest little girl around?

Then onto services at Northwood Alliance Church

Lunch with Kristen, Jade & Coral 

Wednesday, Janury 26 saying good-bye to my bestie, Dee

Enjoying a farewell southern breakfast with Gerald & Sandra

And visiting with Brandon, Danalyn, Max & Christopher

And more fun times with the grands!

From Lewiston, ID to Bend, OR ~ January 31, 2011

 

 And then we went to my Aunt Joan & Uncle Don's place which is known as Noyes Ranch.

We spent 4 nights and three days there.  It was a good time of restin and relaxin.  The drive in can be very nervousin at times so I took lots of pictures.  Decided to put them into a movie to make it easier to see.  Just wish I knew how to put music to the movie.

This is the hunting lodge and caretakers residence at Noyes Ranch.

This is where we saw our first daffodils of the season! 

Guess I liked the daffodils so much I posted the picture twice :)

 

 In the kitchen at the hunting lodge.  Uncle Don is our usual chef for breakfast but he was in Napa for Friday night & Saturday morning so Aunt Joan did the cooking.  Look at all the different spices behind the stove.  Wish I had the wall space to do something like that here in the motor home.

And then we went to Santa Nella to the San Jouquin National Cemetery where Alice's Dad is buried.  He was a Korean War Vet.  Their memorial is the picture with the flag to the left.

And then onto Fresno for time with Ron's cousins.  We had a fun breakfast with Wes, Belva, Sharon & Jim.  Shared lots of laughter, old memories and made lots of new ones.  

And then onto Edwards AFB to see Jenn & Mike and their two little ones, Brooke & Adam. 

It was so fun to get more hugs & kisses from the little ones. 

And then to Quartzsite, AZ to meet up with Sheila & Larry.

Sheila and Ali are Forum Sisters on Womens RV Forum. 

 We met at Bad Boys Cafe for breakfast and visiting.

 And now you are all caught up with us on our travels.

Next stop is Scottsdale/Phoenix for a day of restin and relaxin.

Come back soon and see where are travels take us next on our journey to get to D'Hanis, Texas

to start our adventure of being campground managers.

Fresno, Edwards AFB to Quartzsite, AZ

Wow  what a few crazy kinda days!

Tuesday we had a great breakfast with Ron's cousins: Wes, Belva, Sharon & her hubby Jim.  We laughed so much and shared so many memories and stories of how the Lord has been working in our lives.
 
After breakfast we made a stop at the parts store and then went back to the motor home.  The end result was that we had to replace the starter, get a new battery and change some fuses.  Ron finished up all that with the help of a mobile mechanic.  So thankful he could come to the motor home as we were dead in the water as they say.

Tuesday evening we had dinner with Jim & Sharon and Belva.  Sharon sure is a great cook.  We talked and visited till about 8:30.  Jim had to be up early the next morning to fly to Phoenix for some time with his brother so we left him to pack and went back to the motor home.

Wednesday we had a surprise good bye visit from Belva.  It was good to see her and share a couple of more hugs.  We then went to Tehachapi to drop off a rocker for new mommy Elizabeth and baby Timothy.  The rocker was from her parents Keith & Beth.  Beth had used the same rocker for when Elizabeth was a baby.  So fun to share in this special delivery.  

Isn't Timothy so cute sleeping snuggled up next to Mommy Elizabeth.

And then we were on our way to Edwards AFB to see Ron's niece and her family.  It was fun to see Brooke who just turned 2 and baby Adam who is now 9 months old.  Mike & Jennifer were great hosts.  Jennifer made a delightful dinner of Tater Tot Casserole with a green salad.  It was fun to catch up with them and to meet their friend Fowler.  We were able to park right in front of their home and connect to their electricity for the night.  It had been a long time since we had seen them and we so enjoyed our time with them.  And of course, getting lots of baby hugs and kisses were an added bonus.

Baby Adam ~ another miracle baby in our family. He weighed just over 2 lbs when he was born.  He is now 9 months old and just over 10 lbs.  He is a very happy little guy and we are so thankful for him.

And big sister Brooke.  She is showing me her dance steps!

We were back on the road this morning about 9:30.  Our route today was from Edwards AFB, near Lancaster, CA to Quartzsite, AZ.  It was a great day of traveling.  I did have a slight accident getting back into the passenger seat and banged my head quite hard on the TV.  (The TV is attached to the shelf above the driver and passenger seats).  I took a 2 1/2 hour nap.  It is so nice to have the comforts of home while toiling down the road.  We arrived in Quartzsite about 4:00.  We had dinner and now are settled in for the night.  

We are so thankful for all your prayers for us on this journey.  God is Faithful and is providing for us in ways we could not imagine.  We are truly blessed!  Talk to y'all again soon.

Hollister to Fresno, California

Yesterday afternoon we arrived at Thousand Trails just outside of Hollister, CA.  What a trip to get there.  First the fuse blew that controls the radio and the cigarette lighter.  We don't smoke but use the cigarette lighter to plug in Maggie (our GPS).  Thank goodness we have VZ Navigator on our cell phones.  At least we could get the directions to the preserve right?  Wrong!  It didn't recognize the street address.  So I used our wireless card and got online to the Thousand Trails website and got the directions.

Well the directions need to be updated!!!  There is no dead end road.  It is not 29 miles from Hollister to the preserve. And you don't turn before the store and Post Office in Paicines.  But we found it.  And we got there before the Super Bowl started.  We quickly got the motor home hooked up and went over to the Family Lodge.  There were about 12 people there and I think I was the youngest one of them all.  And we were all Packer fans!  Lots of cheering for most of the game though things got quiet for a little while and then loud again.  Everyone brought goodies to share.  It was a fun evening.

And then we went back to the motor home and settled in for the night.  It was a very long night...first I had a headache, then Ron's computer kept shutting down (so hate thermal shut downs) and then we both went to sleep.  Then I hear all this banging around.  And it is pitch dark inside and out.  Ron is opening and closing the electrical control box and fumbling around.  I got up asked if he had looked outside to see if anyone else was without power.  NO he hadn't even thought of that.  I looked ~ the park was totally dark.  So back to bed we went.  Thank goodness it was warm and not 18' like it was in Bend.  

We were up a couple of times in the night and it was still dark.  We were up about 8:00 this morning and still had no power.  No power means no coffee :( so we got the motor home ready to go.  Ron changed the two fuses that he saw were blown.  Nope didn't fix the cigarette lighter.  As we made our way out of the park we saw the power company's truck parked by the gate.  Sure hope they get it fixed for the other campers.


We then headed towards Fresno with a planned stop in Santa Nella at the San Jouquin Valley Veterans Memorial Cemetery where my dad is buried.  First stop was for gas.  We paid $3.51 a gallon for regular!!!  Can't believe these prices but we don't really have a choice do we.  Got gas and back on the road.  Found a truck stop about 5 miles from the cemetery where we were able to park the motor home and unhook the Jeep.  We then went to the cemetery.  It is so serene there.  We took lots of pictures.  I will post them later.  After spending about an hour there we went back and tried to start the motor home ~ nope it wouldn't start.  So we hooked the Jeep up and jumped the motor home.  


Remember we are having problems with the battery starting the motor home in the mornings.  And usually use the house batteries to start ~ well remember we had no power for the night thus the motor home would not start.  So we jumped it with the Jeep.  And we were back on the road.  And promptly got on the freeway going the wrong direction.  Got turned around and then started climbing a steep hill.  We slowly made our way up the hill but we made it up the hill.


Then onto Fresno.  Had to take a detour into a neighborhood to get turned in the right direction.  There is no way our motor home towing the Jeep can make a U-turn on a four lane road.  Whew we finally got pulled into the Blackstone RV Park.  At first glance we both wondered where we would park our 37' motor home ~ the sights looked pretty small.  But going around the corner it opened up and we were in a pull through spot.  Yippee!!  We got set up, unhooked the Jeep and then Ron called his cousin Belva.  Made dinner plans and then I started balancing our checking accounts (2) and of course mine would not balance.  Left it till we got back from dinner.


Had a great dinner at Marie Callendar's and then Belva drove us over to see Fresno Pacific University (the Mennonite brethren College) and then to her home.  She has a lovely home with cathedral ceilings and the prettiest stained glass windows in her master bath.  And then we headed back to the motor home to settle in for the night.


Tomorrow we will be up early as we are having breakfast with three of Ron's cousins and two of their spouses.  It will be fun to see them all again.


On another note - Ron's sister Judy had her surgery today to repair what the doctors thought was three hernias - nope, turns out she had six!  She came through the surgery just fine and will be in the hospital till Wednesday or Thursday and then recuperating at her Aunt Vern's for a few days.  


Thank you for praying for her these last two weeks and we ask that you keep her in your prayers as she recovers.  She will be off work for two to three weeks.


And we continue to seek your prayers for safe travel as we continue our journey to Texas.  We will be leaving Fresno Wednesday morning and heading to Tehachapi and then Lancaster and then onto Las Vegas then Phoenix.  We will be in Phoenix Saturday and Sunday.  Then Monday to Tucson and then onto McNeal, AZ and then taking three days to Kerrville, TX on Saturday and then to D'Hanis and the Lone Star Corral Escapee Co-op park on Sunday February 20th.  And then begin our new adventure as Office & Property Manager for the campground.


Will work on pictures tomorrow so I can do a couple of posts of pictures.  Hope everyone is having a good week.

On the Road Again!

We are on the road once again.  I have lots of blog posts I need to do but wanted to let everyone know we are doing well.

We arrived at my aunt & uncle's Wednesday afternoon, February 2nd.  They live just north of Middletown, CA on Highway 29.  I will be doing a post of our journey to their place.  Took lots of pictures that I want to make into a slide show for ease of watching.  We did not have access to the internet while we were there which is why I have not made any posts.  We left Middletown this morning about 9:30 and arrived here in Paicines, CA at San Benito Thousand Trails about 3:30.  We made a quick beeline over to the family lodge to catch the Packers ~ Steelers game.  Lots of cheering was happenin all around us especially when the Packers won!

Now I need to get to making dinner and then to doing some blog posts.  Sure hope everyone is having a great weekend.

Sunny California ~ Corning to be Exact

Greetings from Sunny California!!!

It is 71' in the motor home and 65' outside and we are enjoying the warmth just fine!  We arrived here at Rolling Hills Casino RV Park about 3:45 p.m.  As we pulled in we both thought of Bruce & Margie as this was one of their favorite places to stop for the night.  Bruce & Margie were dear blogging friends who were killed last October while in Pismo Beach.

We had a good days drive, leaving Bend, OR about 8:45 this morning.  We stopped just outside of Weed and made lunch.  It was sunny so we decided to take a walk.  It was a short lived walk as it was freezing outside and very windy.


We climbed multiple summits today with no problems.  Was even able to use the auxiliary gas tank.  While we were at Cascade Diesel Ron talked to John about the second gas tank the problems we seem to have with it and John told Ron to just use when he can, get that gas moving in that tank and use it up.  So that is what he is doing.  By using the front tank some it made our gas mileage go up a little because we only now put gas in the main tank.  Yesterday our average gas per mile was 4.87 today it was 6.86!!!  Well at least it looks good on paper.

Thanks to Stacey who was online with me as we climbed one 4500' summit by Mt. Shasta...she prayed right along with me on Facebook  via chat that we would get up the summit with no problem.  Ron kept it at a steady speed of 30 mph and the motor home climbed slow but steady.  And then we rejoiced because we were going downhill once again.

Once we got to the south side of Weed the sun was shining and it started to warm up in the motor home.  In fact, we stopped at a rest area so we could both take off our sweatshirts and gloves!  Think we can pack those away now.  I can't believe I am sitting here and the sun is shining in through the windows, we have the door open and the window behind the sink letting in lots of warm fresh air!


Tomorrow we will drive to Middletown, CA where my Aunt Joan & Uncle Don live.  We will be there for four nights.  It will be so good to spend more time with family.  


One thing Ron will be working on is the fuse for the heater/defroster blew again this afternoon so now the hydraulic jacks are not working again.  Also for some reason after the motor home sits over night we have to jump it with the house batteries.  He is going to talk to Uncle Don about what could be causing that problem.  


While at my aunt's I don't know if our cell phones will work up there.  They are out in the boogie toolies on some beautiful acreage.  I know I can use the internet as they have a router set up at their place so I can keep in touch that way.  We are both looking forward to having time with them.


Well Ron is taking a nap and I think I am going to go and join him.

Three States in One Day

Today we traveled through three states. Kind of.

We started out in Clarkston, WA where we had been staying since Friday evening.  Clarkston is right across the river from Lewiston where our son, Brandon, and his wife, Danalyn and our two grandsons, Max & Christopher live.  But y'all already knew that didn't ya!

First thing on the agenda this morning was to take Christopher's swimvest back to their place.  When we returned to the motor home last night that is the first thing I saw was the little blue swim vest sitting in the sink.  As it was close to 11 p.m. we decided to just wait till this morning to take it by.  After another hug and see-you-later (Lewiston, Idaho) it was back to the motor home to get ready to get on the road.  We pulled out of the campground (in Clarkston, WA) at 11:02 a.m.  Then we had to go to Costco to get gas and a few groceries for the trip.  We actually got on the road to begin this leg of our journey at 11:50 a.m.  Not bad considering Ron really wanted to be on the road by 10:00 this morning.  Oh well, we have tomorrow to try to get an earlier start.

It was mid afternoon when we crossed from Washington into Oregon.  Ron did most of the driving except for an hour and a half.  I only made Ron a little nervous a few times.  At one point when i was driving on I84 heading west towards Portland I did comment that "this is really nervousing to me."  It was at that point I was driving on the outside lane of the highway with one lane to the left between me and the mountainside and a guardrail and a little bit of shoulder and the Snake River.  A little later Ron said I did a great job driving today.  I think he only said that because he keeps saying he wants me to drive over the new bridge between Nevada and Arizona by Hoover Dam.  I think NOT!  What do y'all think of his crazy idea?

We stopped about 6:00 p.m. to eat some chicken and to get warm.  With the heater still not working in the rig it gets mighty chilly even with a sweatshirt, two pairs of slipper socks, and two blankets along with a pair of gloves.  It was at that time we decided to continue to Thousand Trails at Bend/Sunriver.  It was only 86 more miles.  I was so glad Ron took over the driving as it started to snow just outside of Bend.  We arrived here about 8:45 p.m.  After checking in at the ranger station and finding one of only two pull through spots we are settled for the night.

I made some chicken with wild rice soup and now we are catching up on emails and writing my blog posts.

If you are interested I started another blog.  It is called  Alice's Restaurant ~ Dishin Up Food for Thought.  I will be writing some devotions, sharing some of the stories I have written and reflections of my heart.  Feel free to follow along.

Thank you for your many prayers for us as we make our way to D'Hanis, TX.  We continue to seek your prayers for safety on the road, no more mechanical problems with the motor home and for our finances.