New Rig

Today we drove the Damon to storage,,these are photos of me following Ted...almost got me a mailbox here and there but we made it without any damages to the new rig and my 'v-dub'...Ted did a great job backing into the spot--of course I was behind him directing! We are plotting our course for the next road trip - still some things to do in the coach before we head out to get it 'road ready'...I can honestly say that I have missed the open road and we are looking forward to our next adventure...

Detour

I have neglected my blog for some time now - not sure if any of my followers even noticed, but we have taken a DETOUR for the time being on our traveling,,,

We had planned to tour the east coast,,the right side of the US of A this spring,,however,,,plans change like the wind..

We are back in the metroplex - DFW area - and searching for a home - once again - hoping this is my absolute last move,,I know, I have said that before,,,but Ted decided he does want a home base and north Texas suits his needs as well.

Now, to find that perfect, or nearly perfect home,,,only criteria being: low traffic area, which means out of the mid-cities and more to the northwest of where we have lived before...we are looking in Denton County, near Argyle,,surprise, surprise!! Just happens to be where Kellye and Jeb are building their new home. It is a beautiful area about 10 m. south of Denton off the Old Denton Hwy [377] and east of I-35. Easy access to hit the road w/the RV next time we venture out. Those plans are on hold until we get settled in the home base.

Meanwhile, we are enjoying family and friends and praying the spring weather is not too terribly wicked.

South Padre Island - 2009

We love to go over on 'the island' when weather permits and now that the red tide has disappeared. It's so relaxing to walk the beach and just sit on the beach and soak up the sun and listen to the waves.

We visited the Nature Center to check out the improvements and pay respects to Barry..hard to believe it has been four years since we had his services there..

Brownsville, Texas

We left north Texas heading south on the 1st of November after spending a month with family and friends - destination: Winter Haven Resort, Brownsville, TX..

We are down on the border by the sea in a lovely "over 55 residential park',,mostly owned properties for the winter texans making their way down from the north country and for those who call this place 'home'.

Sunset at Winter Haven

Back in Texas

The first of October finds us back in Texas,,making our way south from Spicer through the cornfields of Minnesota, South Dakota, Iowa, Missouri and Kansas....seeing as Ted's back was dealing him fits we didn't dilly-dally on our way back home.. [yes, I call Keller home]...Ted got into his doctor the first day back and with medication got his strained\sprained back fixed up...Dixie got to see her regular dog-dresser [groomer-Susan] while she was home and we could tell she was happy after seeing Susan for the day...thanks Susan, you are the best!arf, arf,....

Resting up was our motive and searching for a winter home was our objective while visiting with family...in between the swine-flu, [not us,but others] we were able to visit with everybody and get in lots of hugs...oh wait, we didn't get to see Manny as he was busy in Houston in his new digs down there,,Breanna and Mason were busy doing college stuff...even managed to visit with Tim as he made his way back home to Amarillo from Austin and stayed a few days at Celia's house...had a nice lunch w/Tootie and JJ but Shannon was busy w/her college stuff...Joe was recuperating from his motorcycle uh-oh...Kellye was very busy w/her first graders and I visited her class one day to see her in action...Gracie had her 'Show-Off' for cheer..Jaxon played football..Jeb changed jobs...Johnny was busy w/Guyer HS football-go Wildcats...Donna was busy raking up acorns in her yard...I will miss my family as always while traveling about the country...heading south for winter! Hasta luego mi familia ,,,

Spicer, MN

Almost caught up on the blog,,still dealing with the internet, or should I say, lack of internet with AT&T,,after jumping through hoops, standing on one foot and spinning around to get signals since we left Seattle we are now up to September 25th when we arrived in Spicer, MN to visit with Fred, Theresa and Tom. What a beautiful place they have in Spicer ,,,where 'everthing is nicer',,,they made me say that! tee hee hee...

As you can see by the photos, they had plenty of room to accomodate our rig on the lower garage pad,,as opposed to the upper garage,,first time I have ever seen a 2 story garage...the view from their front window is of Grass Lake and to the left and down the road is Green Lake,,afterall, it is the land of 10,000 lakes? or something like that,,we even got to take a spin in their new boat on Green Lake,,sorry no photos but enjoyed cocktails on the lake before the sun set...also toured Theresa's YMCA facility..state of the art with all the bells and whistles..picked gourds from their garden..walked to the winery at the end of the road and we bought some Minnesota wine Theresa treated us to honey crisp apples that were to die for...also took a little road trip to the casino..Theresa had to go to Chicago to teach some classes and Fred and Tom had to work but we enjoyed our stay there but decided we needed to start heading south before the snow flies...Tom will be leaving next month for basic training in Great Lakes, IL..he's in the Navy now...we are all so very proud of him,,

from the back of their property

Ted and Fred

Tom and Grampa

Theresa with "Ollie" [Oliver Cromwell]

"Tori" [Queen Victoria]

Tom driving us to the casino

getting my gourd from the YMCA garden

Mitchell Corn Palace, SD

After seeing billboards along I-90 [again with the billboards] about the "Corn Palace" we decided Mitchell would be a good place to stop for the night,,seeing as we lost another hour and are back in the central time zone,,and there's a KOA as well...why not? After setting up in the campground we decide to go into town to take a look at this Corn Palace,,,we follow the signs to downtown Mitchell,,,and I must admit,,someone has gone to a lot of work, or should I say a lot of someones,,designing the murals on the outside of the building with shucked ears of corn of all colors,,the pigeons and dove enjoy the building as well...hey, why not..we weren't the only ones stopping and taking photos..reminds me of the movie, "Michael" when they had to stop at all the roadside attractions,,,we can now cross this one off the list along with Wall Drug,,but hey, we saw them! Seeing as we were downtown Ted proclaims he is hungry,,he's always hungry and hey, I will never pass up dining out as to me cooking,,,we decide on the "Country Kitchen" seems I frequented many of these in Nebraska while working,,breakfast all day type diner,,,we did enjoy breakfast for dinner and ask for our ticket,,,the waitress informs us that a gentleman who was sitting across the room from us bought our dinner,,,what? the waitress told us she wanted to tell us when he was still seated but he wished to remain anonymous,,what a kind man? why us? did he buy everyone's dinner or just us? we will never know but little did we know when we sat down to eat and blessed our food and thanked our sweet Lord above for another day on this earth that we would be touched by the kindness of a total stranger buying us a meal....we are still scratching our heads as to ‘why us?’,,,,and just ‘who was that kind stranger?”….

Wall, SD

Wall Drug - Wall, S.D.

Driving through the Black Hills National Forest on our way to I-90 today,,,Wall Drug...we keep seeing signs for Wall drug, free ice water, nickel coffee,,,what a delight to visit Wall Drug in what else, Wall, S.D.? RV friendly parking, why not?,,,the fascinating wonders of Wall Drug and the Badlands,,back in December, 1931, Dorothy and Ted Hustead bought the only drugstore in town, on the edge of the South Dakota Badlands...relatives told them that Wall was about as Godforsaken as you can get,,by 1936 busines hadn't grown much at all,,one hot summer afternoon Dorothy after lying down for an afternoon nap proclaimed she couldn't go to sleep not because of the heat but because of the cars going by on Route 16A,,the jalopies just about shook the house to pieces,,,then told Ted she finally saw how they could get all those travelers to come to our store,,,"offer them ice water,,let's put out signs on the highway telling people to come here for free ice water"...much like the Burma Shave signs,,Dorothy made up a few lines ..Get a Soda,,Get Root Beer,,Turn Next corner,,Just as near,,,To Highway 16 & 14,,,Free Ice Water,,,Wall Drug..."....the next weekend the signs were out on the highway,,,for hours people came pouring in,,all hot and frazzled,,they poured gallons of ice water, sold ice cream cones and sodas...the signs surely worked,,today Wall Drug draws up to twenty thousand people on a good summer day..Free Ice Water brought the Husteads a long way and it taught them a great lesson and that there's absolutely no place on God's earth that's Godforsaken,,,no matter where you live, you can succeed, because wherever you are, you can reach out to other people with something that they need,,,,,,

Free Ice Water - as in the beginning....