Saturday, November 28 – Another Day around home

Jesse set the alarm so he could get up and walk with the guys at 7am. He got up at 6:10am, walked the boys then went walking with Ed, Heinz and Gilbert.

After he returned he made coffee and we computered. Then Marilyn and I went walking. We stopped at Pat and Dan’s to say hello for awhile.

After I returned home I made us an eggbeater, onion, pepper and cheese burrito.

We watched a movie on the cable TV. Just as it was ending Heinz stopped by to invite us to a ladder golf tournament behind Gilbert and Louie’s trailer. I hurried and took a shower before going over.

We had set up two sets of ladder golf . We chose teams at radom, they were as follows:

• 1st place - Louise and Ginger
• 2nd place - Marilyn and Irene
• 3rd place - Gilbert and Heinz
• 4th place - Jesse and Ed

Louise and I were crowned the champions. Here are some pics from all the fun

We all broke up and everyone went to their own RV’s.

Jesse and I warmed up leftovers from yesterday and just watched TV for the rest of the evening.

Friday, November 27 – A day just hanging out & making dinner

 

Today started like most, having coffee and computering.

Around 11:15 Ed came by to see if we wanted to go the Rec center for lunch. They were having leftovers at 1/2 price.  I had decided to make the turkey breast for today's dinner, so we told them we were eating at home.

I prepared a WW recipe for pumpkin pie for dessert. And then I made the stuffing and put it in the refrigerator. I put the turkey in the oven and we went over to the Dray’s to play ladder golf.

When we got there Ed was finishing up his golf tournament on the Wii.

We played guys against the girls. The guys won the first game. Then the girls won the second. The third game was very close, with both teams need only one point to win.

  Well the guys won 2 out of three. We didn’t care because we had lots of fun. By the time the games were over it was time for me to go home and continue to prepare dinner.

For our meal I made turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans, waldorf salad and cranberries. Everything was good, I had one plate with a normal serving of each item.

Jesse helped me clean up the dishes – he washed and I dried, team work.

I talked to my brother Gene, my sister-in-law, Debbie, is in the hospital with internal bleeding. Please join me in saying a prayer for a speedy recovery.

We will relaxed for the rest of the evening.

Thursday, November 26 – Thanksgiving Day

This is a day to gather with family and friends and be thankful for our blessings.

This is my most favorite holiday. The first in probably 35 years that I didn’t cook. We would all gather and eat and have a great day. Some years there would be many and other years there would only be 6 or 8. However many there were I loved cooking for them. I will cook for Jesse and I over the weekend.

This year was spent with good friends at the rec hall for dinner.

The workcampers cook and serve and everything was very tasty. I tried not to over do too much. I weighed myself before leaving for dinner, it’s been 4 weeks and I have lost 12.5 lbs. Jesse has lost 10 lbs in 3 weeks.

Here are the desserts which I only had 2 bites of the cheese cake.

We had dinner with Ted and Sue

Ed and Marilyn

Dan, Pat and Dan’s son Patrick

And today was Dan’s birthday and we sang to him….Happy Birthday Dan!!!

Afterwards we came home, walked the boys. Jesse napped in his chair and I watched ET on TV.

Even though it was a very different Thanksgiving for us, it was fun and very relaxing.

Wednesday, November 25 - Errands and Chores

We were having coffee when Ed drove over to pick Jesse up. Now Jesse didn’t know he was suppose to be ready at a time, so he wasn’t. It only took him a few minutes to changes from sweats to jeans and a shirt and off the two guys went.

They went to see about getting a hair cut, but the shop wasn’t open. Then they went to pick up their sun screens at the flea market. They had to wait for them to finish putting on the snaps. Afterwards they went to the dealer to pick up the parts Jesse had ordered for the truck.

While they were gone I just relaxed and watched a movie. When they got back they proceeded to install the sun screen.

Before, during and after:

It is amazing how much of a difference it makes. We usually keep the shade down while here because the sun is so intense, but with the shade/screen it really makes a big difference.

When they finished with ours they went over to Ed’s and put his up. Here is a picture of the finish look.

After all the work was done we sat with Ed and Marilyn on their patio while the guys had a cold one to relaxed after all their hard work.

Then we came back home and I made us a sandwich, then gave Jesse a hair cut. With that task completed he took a shower and then installed the new seat belt and license plate light on the truck. Now it will be ready for inspection.

We then just went indoors and relaxed for the rest of the evening. Low cal TV dinners for dinner and popcorn for dessert.

H A P P Y T H A N K S G I V I N G !!!

Tuesday, November 24 – Rollie and Gina

We looked forward to today, being able to spend time with more good friends. Rollie and Gina arrive….

They came in and we visited. (The weather was not to great outside, cool, cloudy and sprinkling) I called Ed and Marilyn to let them know to come over.

After hugs all around we sat to get caught up to date before going out to lunch. We went to a Mexican restaurant called Arturo’s. We had been there last year but it was not a Mexican place. It is an old house converted into a restaurant, so they have several different rooms within the place.

We all ordered chicken fajitas except Ed who got fried fish with onion rings and FF. The food was good, the company was better.

We sat and lingered for awhile after lunch, but the waiters keep looking at us, so we decided to leave.

Ed and Marilyn decided to go to Walmart, because while at the restaurant they dropped their camera and it wouldn’t work.

We all returned to the Kram-a-lot and we talked and talked. It was so good to spend time with them. They are such a fine couple and we are so blessed to know them.

After they left Jesse and I just relaxed and computered and watched TV.

Another wonderful day in the Valley.

Monday, November 23 –A Fun Filled Day in RGV

Today was a busy day. It started with breakfast at Mingo's. Everything was as yummy as I remembered. I had bacon and eggs while Jesse, Ed, and Marilyn had Huevos Rancheros (2 fried eggs smothered in cooked salsa served with refried beans and hash browns also accompanied with flour tortillas.)

After breakfast we came back to the resort and walked over to Ed’s to have my tires aired up. I also visited with Gilbert and Louise and their Yorkie “Bijou”.

When I walked back to Ed's, Marilyn was taking a shower and the guys were WII bowling. When Marilyn came out all four of us began to play. We were in our third game and beating the guys, when Jesse accidentally reset the game. We had to start over and the guys won by accident. (An accident is a specific, identifiable, unexpected, unusual action which occurs in a particular time and place, without apparent or deliberate cause.)

Afterwards we came home and had a bite to eat, then Jesse went to the junk yard to find the parts he needed for the truck to get inspected. He did not find what he needed so he ordered them from the dealer.

I rode up to Pat and Dan’s to visit. While visiting I noticed that Heinz and Irene were pulling in along with Joyce and Roger (long time readers of Ed’s blog)

After sitting at Pat’s for awhile, we decided to go meet Joyce and Roger and greet Heinz and Irene. We sat at E&M’s with Pat and Dan.

We then decided it was time to go to the store. Jesse and I went to Walmart for a few items we needed. He also got a movie from the Red Box.

After getting all the stuff put away I made us a big salad for dinner. It had the leftover chicken from the other night and was delicious.

We watched our movies and some TV before calling it a fun filled day.

Tomorrow promise’s to be Great fun also, until then.

Sunday, November 22 – A Day at Home

 

This morning I stayed in bed until 8am, Jesse got up and walked the boys at 7am and he stayed up. After the boys had their breakfast they came back to lay in bed with me.

After getting up, reading blogs and having coffee I decided to straighten up some things, desk drawers, linen closet and went through my clothes drawers to get rid of some clothes. While I did these things Jesse went out to wash the rig.

I made us some lunch and we just relaxed in the afternoon, Jesse was watching the Ravens and Colts play.

Then he washed the outside windows and I did the inside.

Around 3:30 I called Ed & Marilyn to see if they wanted to sit outside with us and have a drink. They came over and we sat outside for about 40 minutes then it began to get chilly so we called it a night.

I baked some sweet potatoes, white potatoes, onions, red and yellow peppers. I made a cucumber and tomato salad and Jesse grilled some chicken thighs for me and of course breasts for him. He put BBQ sauce on them towards the end of cooking and they were yummy.

I cleaned up the dishes while Jesse walked the boys and then we relaxed for the evening and watched TV.

Saturday, November 21 – Shopping and dinner

 

The boys awoke us early today around 4:15. I told them to go back to sleep and they did for about 15 minutes, then I heard Bayer getting sick. I got up to clean up the mess and went back to bed, but only dozed. I finally got out of bed at 7am.

We got showers and got ready for Ed to pick us up at 10am.

We drove to the flea market and we all found a few items we couldn’t do without. The biggest purchase we both made was a screen for the back window. They are making it and we will pick them up on Wednesday.

This screen is suppose to help keep the heat out and still allow us to see out.

After we drove over to the farmers market, as I wanted to purchase some vegetables. I got red, yellow, orange and green peppers. Zucchini, tomatoes, cucumbers, and cabbage, we also split a 10 lb bag onions with E&M.

After leaving we were talking about food and we were all hungry, so we went to Fat Daddy’s for a sliced pork BBQ sandwich. It was as delicious as I remembered.

Back home we unloaded everything and I got my floor cleaned and finished setting up our home, putting out my fall decorations.

Jesse took the bikes off the rack, got out our chairs and put out the flag holders and the solar lights. He also got things put away in the truck and put the cover back on the bed of the truck.

Then he put our new grill together. We gave the two we had to our son-in-law and purchased one like Ed has for $25 from Walmart. It has a bigger grill space and the lid is attached. It should work much better then the others we had.

By this time we got freshen up for dinner. Dan, Pat, Ted and Sue picked us up at 4:30 and we drove to McAllen for dinner. We met Ed, Marilyn, Gilbert and Louise at the Macaroni Grill.

 

We had a good time eating and drinking. It’s a lot of fun spending time with good friends.

Back at the resort Jesse and I watched a couple of movies Ed had loaned us before going to bed. We had a wonderful time today, our 1st day in our winter home and are looking forward to at least 89 more.

Hugs to all!

Friday, November 20 – Travel to Llano Grande

We left at 7:05am and traveled US 77 south until we took US 83 west in Harlingen. We drove 310 miles and arrived at 1:15. We went right to the registration and got all paid then drove to our site. We were only there for a few minutes when Ed and Marilyn came over to say hello and get hugs.

In a short while Pat came over to say hello and give us hugs.

It was so good to be in our winter home and to see our good friends again.

They went home to prepare dinner for us while we got set-up.

They were going to host a happy hour at 4:00, but guess what it was raining!!. It follows us everywhere. We went over anyway and sat and visited for awhile before sitting down to a wonderful dinner.

They served WW friendly food, grilled BBQ chicken, bean salad, and potato salad. We had fruit salad for dessert.

Thank you so very much for dinner, having to not have to prepare dinner was a true blessing.

After visiting for awhile we bid them goodnight and went home to just relaxed and watch TV before going off to bed.

We are very happy to be here and look forward to spend time with all our friends for the winter.

We plan to go to the flea market and farmers market with E&M in the morning.

Thursday, November 19 – Blue Bell Ice Cream

Yesterday was a fun day. Joanne and I left the grounds around 10am to go to the nail salon. She was getting her nails done and a pedicure. I on the other hand was just getting a pedicure, a “spa pedicure”. It was really nice they did a lot more massaging my legs and feet and they put my feet in a wax bath. It was very relaxing and I have “Happy Feet”.

By the time we got back home it was after 1pm and I was hungry. BTW I have lost 8 lbs since October 29 and I am very happy and hopefully getting healthier.

I made Jesse and I some lunch and then proceeded to bake some cupcakes. We were going to dinner at Jim and Joanne’s tonight. She was making us a chicken casserole from a recipe that was given to her by Ollie (another co-worker from LGE). They were also opening a bottle of Riesling they had for a while that was very tasty.

Anyway after the baking was done, I walked over to their place to sit outside with Joanne and visit with Patsy, who is another co-worker from LGE. She and her husband Tom were spending the winter working here also.

I went home to feed the boys and make sure they were okay before we wandered back over to have dinner at 6:00. The casserole was yummy, thank you Joanne for a very nice evening. We were back home around 8:30 for the evening.

Today we decided to go on an adventure to the Blue Bell Creamery for a tour of the plant. (Ed eat your heart out)!

They were decorating for Christmas and everything was getting very festive..

I want Ed to know that Jesse ate your share while he was thinking of you. The tour was very interesting and their main goal/success is their employees and quality of ingredients. Of course afterward you get to sample some of their ice cream. (This picture was taken before the tour when all three of them had a scoop before the tour and then again after the tour). I only had after. :~) After the tour and sampling was over we went to a Super Walmart to just walk off the ice cream, before going to an Italian restaurant that was recommend to us by one of the hostesses at the creamery, Volare’. When we got there again we thought of Ed again, because they were closed from 2-5 on weekdays, but were only open for a group of basketball players from Florida that were coming.

They allowed us to come in anyway. The food was very very good and we enjoyed our time with our companions very much, the conversation was very lively and Jim picked up the tab because we drove. Thanks Jim and Joanne!

When we got back we went home to get things packed up to travel tomorrow. We are looking forward to going to our winter home and will be there in

1 day to Llano

Here are more pictures from the park and today’s adventure

Hugs to everyone!

Tuesday, November 17 - Another Travel Day

Today was an easy travel day. We went 192 miles averaging 11 mpg with a bit of a tail wind. We arrived at Thousand Trails Colorado River in Columbus Texas about 1:30 pm. We are here as guests of Jim and Joann, our coworkers at Lake George Escape last summer. Jim is work camping here as a Ranger. Joann was supposed to work but she is the gal that fell in the office and broke her hip during her last scheduled shift for the season Labor Day weekend. Joann is doing well and recovering nicely. She is out of the wheel chair and walking with a cane. She should be back to normal before too long.

This is our first experience with Thousand Trails. It is a nice campground with lots of open spaces and lots of deer. We have thought a bit about joining a private camping club but….naw. Passport America and Escapees is all we need. Maybe if all we did was travel it might be worth it but we are still too stationary work camping in the summer, winters in the RGV, and visiting family in between.

After setting up with full hook ups (30 amp) and getting the satellite zeroed in we took quick showers then met on Jim and Joann’s patio for cocktails. We were all getting hungry and decided on a Mexican restaurant, Los Cabos. The food was very good as was the service. In the foyer to the restaurant is a self service soft ice cream machine with cones. It tasted like ice milk but it was still good and we all had just enough room after a filling dinner for a small cone..except for Ginger who doesn't care for soft serve.

Upon returning to the campground we went to our respective 5ers. Ginger and I watched our normal Tuesday fare on TV then headed for bed. It was a short driving day but was a long full day never the less and we were tired.

Always good to be amongst friends.

Monday, November 16 – Travel Day

 

We traveled 276 miles from Shawnee,Oklahoma to Whitney Lake,Texas - It was an uneventful day.

Thanks to everyone who sent me birthday wishes I truly appreciated them!

Once we were parked and set up I did two loads of laundry and made dinner, just an ordinary day.

We will travel again tomorrow. Until then have a great day!

Sunday, November 15 – A Lazy Day

 

WE had every intention in moving on today, but we were  just not in the mood to travel, so we didn’t. That is one of the wonderful things about our lifestyle.

We can change our minds very easy. Most of the time we have no set plans that can’t be molded to our moods. They say  “Plans are made in Jell-O”.

So we had a very lazy day.

Jesse went out to the casino to let them know we were staying one more night and to get a newspaper. He wanted to look at the ads.

What I haven’t told anyone, the other day when we went to Oklahoma City, our GPS was stolen out of our truck. We are not sure how this happened. We had used it to find Bass Pro Shop and Jesse thought he took it out of the holder and put in away. When we were heading to Brian’s house we wanted to use it, but we couldn't find it. The next day when it was daylight we both searched the truck, but in was no where to be found. Nothing else was taken.

So today Jesse went out and purchased a new one. It’s a Garmin 265WT, with tax it cost $184.00. It doesn’t have as many features as our old one, the Garmin 750, which cost twice as much, but we didn’t use those anyway. This new one receives traffic news updates and will recalculate your route to avoid those areas.

The boys and I stayed home and straighten up and planned dinner.

I was watching the food channel and they were each making Thanksgiving dinner with a twist. It made me hungry for that type of meal, so I defrosted turkey cutlets. I lightly breaded them (no egg, just bread crumbs) and put them in a pan with a touch of olive oil. I made mashed potatoes, gravy, corn, cranberry sauce and tomatoes and cucumbers.  It was all tasty and WW friendly.

We watched our normal Sunday night shows before going off to bed.

 

6 more day to RGV

Saturday, November 14 – A Day with the Bakers

Today after we relaxed with our coffee and computers in the morning we got dressed, loaded the boys into the truck and drove over to Brian and Shannon.

I took some pictures of the farm

                   Goats & Sheep                        Alpacas                             Larry the miniature Donkey

 

The girls who are very cute and lovable. They really love to cuddle.

                    Brianna                                    Alyssa                                             Alora

Shannon made us lunch and dinner. She loves to cook and we love to eat so we make a great team. I did lend a hand.

We stayed until evening and enjoyed ourselves very much.

We plan to leave tomorrow morning and head to visit Joanne and Jim in Columbia near San Antonio.