Touring the Hill Country in Texas

We had such a great time on Monday.  Took a drive for about 4 hours.  The weather was beautiful, the scenery gorgeous and saw some interesting activities.  Hope you enjoy our drive through the Hill Country of Texas.

The sign on the front says "Waiting Station" -it is on the outskirts of Uvalde.

Made Ron drive around the block twice so I could get this picture...it is a May pole with different tea kettles.  Bet it looks good full of flowers.

John Nance Garner, Vice-president with President FDR.  He is buried in his home town of Uvalde.  One thing we found interesting, he died when he was 99 and his son died 11 months after him.  Garner's wife pre-deceased him by almost 25 years.

One of many beautiful homes we saw on our drive.

This one was built with different rockery.  To the right and in back there is a tree house just like it.

St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Uvalde.

Another view of the church.  The stained glass windows were gorgeous.

And they like their trees in Uvalde.  This one was in the middle of the road!

A close up of the tree in the road.

One of many beautiful gated entrances on our drive.

A group of buzzards/vultures.  They are huge!!!

Saw a small herd of dear in someone's yard.

Thought this was a great sign.  We decided we didn't want to go up their drive.

Another beautiful entry way.

This bull was right by the road next to this sign (a close up is below).  He stood perfectly still

One of many crosses we saw along our ride.  Many of them have bouquets of flowers placed by them.

Another gated entrance.

Don't know if you can see the horse/mule on the post. 

These mules were behind the fence of the above entrance.  They cane right up to the gate.  I thought of trying to pet one but changed my mind when I saw their teeth...big and lots of them.

Another beautiful cow.

One of the large homes behind those gated entrances.

We cracked up when we saw this sign on a back road.  We never thought of renting our pigs out...we just sold them.

A big eagle...the first one we have seen in a long time.

Look at those horns....maybe we should get a set and put them on the front of the motor home.  What do you think?

Another beautiful long horn.

A sign at the end of a private road.  We have seen many beautiful signs by gated entrances.

A garden scene by a driveway entrance...there was another one just like it on the other side of the drive way.

I thought these were bluebonnets but Ron said no, because they were purple.  Not sure what they are but I wouldn't mind having these growing in my yard ... that is if I had one.

Hope you enjoyed are drive today.

Wild Hog Festival - Sabinal, TX ~~ 3/27/2011

Isn't this guy just the cutest!!!

What a fun time we had in Sabinal, TX for the Wild Hog Festival.  Had deep fried mushrooms and a BBQ pork sandwich.  And shared sweet tea and lemonade.

The mushrooms tasted great but were pretty pricey.

Ron showing off his new hat....pretty dashing I say.

Just lovin these wild hogs.

Sat next to a family that had four members of their group participating in the Catch a Wild Hog contests. The contestants (two to a team)  have to corner, catch and put the hog into a burlap bag and then drag it across the line.  Hope you enjoy the pictures.

Aren't these babies cute?

And this one was our favorite!!!

All the little kids who grabbed or touched a wild baby hog.

Another view of the kids who were busy trying to catch a wild baby hog.

And this is Jacob showing off his blue ribbon!

These two boys won their division.

A mom and her son-in-law trying to get that darn hog into the burlap bag.

And this is Cassidy & Alexa...they won 2nd place in their division.

Texas ~ One Month Today!

Can't believe it was just one month ago today we pulled into the Lone Star Corral.  On one hand it seems like we just got here and on the other it feels like this has been our life for quite awhile.

We are asked often how we are doing?  We are doing great ~ other than me being sick right now.  We are really liking our jobs.  No two days are ever the same.  Yet we are pretty much getting into a routine.  Our work days usually start between 6:15 and 6:30 a.m.  I have been able to have my quiet time with the Lord.  Right now I am doing a Bible study on James with a group of women called "Good Morning Girls."  We connect via Facebook each day.  I think I am the only one without young children at home.  

By the time I am done with my quiet time, Ron is up and getting ready for work.  We then have breakfast and spend about 20 minutes on the computer checking emails, Facebook or blogs.  Then we walk to work.  It is all of 25'.  We each have things that need to be done each morning.  Ron goes and reads the water meters and drives through the park checking to make sure that things are well in the park.  I get the file drawers unlocked, get the till ready for the day, check work emails, check the calendar to see if there is something specific that needs to be done that day and open the office window.  Ready for business.   Throughout the morning I answer the phone, work on projects and visit with different residents and guests as they come into the office.

And then it is lunch time.  We close the office window from Noon to 2:00 p.m.  We take lunch from Noon to 1:00 p.m.  Sometimes we make a run to the post office or the bank at lunch.  After lunch we head back to work.  Me in the office and Ron around the property.  Some of the projects Ron has worked on is organizing the different sheds, cleaning out the Manager's shed so we could put our stuff in it.  He has done some plumbing, mowed lawns, and checked for a water leak.  Ron says working here at the park is like working at our own place ~ making sure that everything is in working order, doing yard work, making sure the tools, lawnmowers, and the tractor are in working order.  He is definitely enjoying himself.  Yesterday he was mowing lawns and one of the gals came in and I mentioned I had been trying to reach Ron on the radio.  Judy said he was out mowing the lawn and had the biggest smile on his face.  Yes, I would say he is enjoying his work.

My time in the office in the afternoon is more of the same from in the morning.  Yesterday one of my projects was to organize some of the files.  I ran out of hanging file folders so that project is on hold till Tuesday once my order from Office Depot comes in.  I am enjoying my work in the office and figuring out where things are and where they go.

When we first started here at Lone Star Corral we decided we wanted Sunday & Monday as our days off.  But we are finding out that a lot things happen on Saturday's in the neighboring communities and not so much on Sunday's so beginning April 9th & 10th we will be taking Saturday & Sunday's off. 

We continue to look for a church to attend while here.  We know we will find right where the Lord want's us.  And that it will take time...patience, something I am not very good at. We are making friends here and that is good.  We were invited to play Mexican train last night but I was not feeling very well.  I was thinking it was allergies but now believe I just have a bad cold.  I am coughing, wheezing and just feel plain crummy.  So today we are laying low.  Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day for me.  Guess that's all for now.

Our First Three Weeks at Lone Star Corral in PICTURES

Thought some of you would like to see some of the things we have seen since our arrival here in D'Hanis, Texas.  For ease in showing you the pictures I have put them into collages.  Let me know what you think of collages vs individual pictures.

 

Let's begin with this one.

1.  Ron busy at work in the office.

2.  The view from our home here at Lone Star Corral.

3.  We have never seen a pickle packaged like this - tasted great!!

4. & 5. Are of a little town we came across on our way home from San Antonio last week.  The "clubhouse" is a little brick building.  We can say we have never seen quite a clubhouse like this.

 

And this is D'Hanis State Bank.  The bank building was built in 1906 and became the bank in 1925 and has been in this spot since.  Inside there is a deer hanging on the wall.  The vault that is still used today is the same vault that was built in 1925 just with some added security measures.  The tellers actually sit behind the barred window openings.  Ron told me not to take any pictures because people get quirky when people "case" the joint.  So I asked and the tellers said go ahead, everyone new does. 

Opening an account at this bank was quite interesting.  Everything is done by paper, no, nope, no computers.  The bank closes at 4:30 p.m. so that one of the tellers can take the days transactions to Hondo (7 miles away) so that everything can be inputted into the computer system.  When I asked for some temporary checks I was handed 5 green checks that look like play checks.  I used them to pay some bills ~ sure hope they go through.

One evening we had blogging friends Don & Pidge join us in D'Hanis at Bill & Rosa's Cafe.  We were all amazed at the size of the soda pop's that arrived.  No refills needed here.

The inside of Bill & Rosa's Cafe.  On Saturday and Sunday they have different musicians come in to play & sing.  It is quite the fun place to go and spend time eating & visiting.

After working all week we joined Jerry & Jane in Dunlay, TX for a fish dinner.  Ron had catfish (that I snuck a few bites of) with fries and Texas green  beans.  He said they were pretty tasty.  I had cod & prawns with a baked potato and a green salad.  We arrived at Dunlay Market & Seafood Restaurant about 6:00 p.m. and left just before the restaurant closed at 10:00 p.m.  We laughed so hard at time I had tears running down my cheeks.  We look forward to getting together with Jerry & Jane as well as many other residents at Lone Star Corral.

We are enjoying our jobs here in D'Hanis and are getting into a schedule of sorts.  Each week I set our alarm for 15 minutes earlier than the week before.  We are wanting to get up at 6:00 a.m. so that I have time for my devotions & time with the Lord as well as get an half hour walk in before getting ready to go to work.  This week the alarm will be set for 6:15 a.m.  One more week and we will be getting back to our walking schedule.

Today we attended First Baptist Church of Hondo again.  It was a great service.  The sermon this week was about the same thing we heard last week at Church on the Hill.  You can read our observations and reflections of our first visits to both churches here.  But boy was the sermon today different from last week.  No theatrics just basic Bible teaching that we are heirs of the Lord.  And He loves us just for us, just as we are, just as He made us.

Next week we will be attending First Christian Church of Sebinal with Mike & Norma from here at Lone Star Corral.  We look forward to checking out another congregation here in the area.

Tomorrow we are having a stay-at-home day.  We need to do some cleaning, reorganizing, and the never ending job of laundry :)  Also need to get some stuff in the mail for an upcoming birthday boy as well as make some banana bread.  Bananas don't last but about a day here in the heat...will have to figure out what other fruit to eat that will last a little longer.

Coming Out of Hiding

Sorry I have not been posting much.  Getting used to regular work hours, keeping a schedule and trying to keep organized has kept me busy and tired.

Last week I got up at 6:45 each morning to have my quiet time, eat breakfast and get ready for work.  We leave our cozy home at 7:55 each morning to walk the 20 or so steps to the office. (I promise to get pictures and to post them soon).  We get lunch from 12 to 1 or there abouts.  Yesterday it was 12:15 to 1:15 but we get an hour for lunch which is nice.  We return to the motor home and make lunch.  Some days it is a sandwich and fruit or left overs or soup - we don't go out for lunch ~~~ yeah not spending money!  Before we return to work for the afternoon we close the afternoon blinds on the passenger side of the motor home to keep the hot afternoon sun out of the motor home.  A couple of days we have turned the fan on as well to keep the air moving and somewhat cool in here.  And then we return to work till 5:00.  We have had to work over 15 minutes twice and that was to park a guest coming into the park.  Which is no big deal as we are paid for all our time we work.

Our evening usually spending about an half hour to an hour just relaxing watching the news and checking our emails ~ not really thinking of much.  Then we make dinner.  We have worked out a pretty sweet deal ~ whoever makes dinner doesn't do the dishes that evening.  Usually I am the one making dinner though Ron cooks a couple of times a week.  One of the things I am trying to do is get organized and back into planning our meals and using our crockpot more often.  A couple of times I have wished that I still had our breadmaker because fresh bread would go well with some of the things I have fixed.  Hmmm...maybe Ron will get the hint when he reads this post and we can look for a breadmaker at a thrift store when we are out exploring the area.

After dinner we have done laundry or spent time on the computers veging and watching TV and/or Skyping with family or friends.  A funny story about Skyping with Brandon and his family.  Christopher was talking to us and could see us on the computer screen.  He kept trying to hand Grandpa the microphone and couldn't figure out come Grandpa could not grab the microphone.  It was quite funny.  He kissed his fingers and put his fingers on the computer screen and we put our fingers up towards ours so we could share kisses.    We are thankful for the technology to be able to see and talk to our kids and grandkids so easily and conveniently.  If you want to Skype with us you can reach us at ali.workentin.  The best time to Skype is around 5:30 p.m. our time.  Remember we are 2 hours ahead of Pacific Time. 

We talked this weekend that we need to get out and start meeting the people in the park so we can make friends.  Don't get me wrong, we have met lots of people here but we have always been working ~ we need to do some socializing and making friends. 

We are missing the fellowshipping with our church family though we are attending and checking out churches in the area.  You can read about my blog post here on the first two churches we have attended. 

Last Monday we made a trip to San Antonio, not to do any sightseeing but to do some shopping.  First thing on our agenda was to open new bank accounts in D'Hanis so we can cash our paychecks.  Then we were off to San Antonio and H.E.B. Plus and Costco.  H.E.B. Plus is like a Super Wal-Mart with more groceries and less clothing but about the same size.  And then we went to Costco.  First up was lunch ~ we like the Polish Dogs and that is our special treat to ourselves when we go grocery shopping.  And boy did we go grocery shopping.  It was the first time in who knows how long that we were able to just buy the groceries we wanted and not worry about did we have enough money.  Thank you LORD for our new jobs and the regular paychecks we are now getting!!!!

And then we took the scenic way back to D'Hanis.  It took us about 2 1/2 hours to drive 49 miles.  We found a cool little town, Helinotes, with a couple of antique shops, a glitzy/glam shop where I found a couple of cute gifts for some of the girls in our family.  We also found some Easter gifts for those special grandchildren of ours.  We enjoy going on drives and are looking forward to some more day trips in the near future.

That catches you up to how our days go around here.  Will write again soon.

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.