New Year's Eve Morning 2009

Had a very fun holiday week.  On Sunday we met up with some friends for a post Christmas - pre New Year's party.  Kittye and Bruce Wallies invited a group of us for an evening of singing, snacks and fellowship!  Kittye and Jeri's grandaughters, Mallorie and Cassandra led off the singing with three of their favorite songs.  Cassandra on guitar and both singing very sweetly!  Then Bruce's brother-in-law, Joe led us in some Christmas Carols!  It was a fun evening.

Monday we met with friends David and Carol Prime and daughter Sophie along with friend Sally Black for lunch.  When Ted first got into horses he met Sally and she was one of his trainers in English riding.  David came over from England and worked for Sally.  They have been friends for a long time.  We had an enjoyable lunch and got caught up on what everyone was doing these days.

Tuesday Max got a haircut, I got my nails done and it was movie night for the "Girls Night Out" group!  We started with Margarita's at Casa De Pico and then went to see "It's Complicated".  A cute and funny "chick flick".

Yesterday we met our friends Jim and Della Crownover to see "Avatar".  All four really enjoyed the movie.  It's almost three hours long but never dragged at all for me.  It has an interesting story line and we really enjoyed the special effects.  I thought it had great imagination!  After the movie we had dinner at California Pizza Kitchen and came back to our house for a card game of Phase 10.  Della was the big winner at cards!  A very enjoyable day.

Today is New Year's Eve.  We are going to friends Tony & Gina Gutowski for a party this evening.  Gotta get going because I need to get groceries so I can actually cook something for the party!  Whew, these holidays inspire a lot of cooking!

Ted and I wish everyone a very safe and happy New Year!  And remember..."Ain't Life Grand!"

Christmas 2009

Christmas Eve our friend Peg came over for dinner and then we played Phase 10, a card game, which Peg won. Then we played Farkle, a dice game, and Ted won! I didn't win but Peg brought me "special coffee" so it was a great evening by all!

Ted and I had a quiet Christmas morning with Max. He had two toys to unwrap and he was a happy camper! He really enjoys tearing off the paper! I made Flying J sweet cream pancakes for breakfast, yummmm! Ted gave me wonderful presents this year; a beautiful black coat with matching gloves, a beautiful black scarf and a diamond Eiffel Tower! A wonderful Christmas for me!

That afternoon we headed for Carlsbad with our friends Jeri and Stan. Jeri's son Tony is married to Gina and Gina's sister Lenette and her husband Ron hosted Christmas dinner this year! Attendees were: Ron's mom Julia, Ron's son Robert and daughter Melissa; Lenette's dad Jim and mom Josie; Tony and Gina, daughter Mallorie (14) and son Trent (9); Jeri and Stan and last but not least, Ted and I.

Lenette is Italian and their traditional Christmas dinner is spaghetti and Lenette made a wonderful spaghetti meat sauce and pasta! We also had salad, garlic bread and little vino! Lenette had yummy home made cookies for dessert! We had a "bring a gift - take a gift" exchange. Ted ended up with a Chevron gas card (very useful for us) and I got a Starbuck's card and glass (good for me)! A great evening was topped off by a fun Charger win! I was neglectful in taking pictures, so only got pictures of a few when we first got there. Probably had something to do with the Charger game or maybe the wine!!!

Yesterday we had lunch and dinner with our friends Jeri and Stach (Stan) and Grandkids, Mallorie and Trent since Mom and Dad were working. Jeri made a book for me of pictures on trips the four of us had been on and included our girls cruise and actually had the book published! It's really cool and so sweet! For Ted Jeri found and had made the perfect gift. She knows about red lips and also that I end the blog with "Ain't Life Grand!" (although she doesn't approve of my grammar!)   So she had a hitch cap made for Ted as follows:

A great Christmas season..."Ain't Life Grand!"

Christmas Eve 2009

Ted had lunch on Tuesday with his friend Jeff Goodhartz.  Back in the early to mid-s 70's Ted lived in San Diego at Reynard Arms Apartments.  This past November we visited Bill and Ginny Nasse in Missouri.  They also lived at the same apartment building as did Jeff.  Right before we left in September, Ted tracked Jeff down quite by chance.  He tried to find him at Granite Hills High School but Jeff had retired from teaching last year!  He tried to get him on Facebook with no response from Jeff.  He was pretty sure he lived in Jamul so Ted went to the Post Office.  He thought maybe they could send Jeff a post card and tell him Ted was trying to find him but they wouldn't do that.  As Ted was leaving the post office, someone who had been inside when he asked about Jeff told Ted that on his street there was a house with a sign that said "Chalet Goodhartz".  So Ted drove up there, found the house and sure enough, it was Jeff!  The other day Jeff was driving by and stopped in at the campground to say hello.  Then on Tuesday they had lunch together with another Reynard Arms friend, Pete.

Yesterday Ted had lunch with a former co-worker, Jonathan Pullen.   You might remember that we visited Salida, Colorado on behalf of Jon and Pam Pullen!

Today we've just been hanging out enjoying the day, our friend Peggy is coming by after work for dinner.  Yes, I am actually cooking!  I have some Pasta E Fagioli cooking in the crockpot!  It is one of my Dinner Studio dinners.  It's got pasta, sausage, kidney beans and tomatoes in it.  Smells pretty good!  I'm also making some cornbread, with my secret cake ingredient (Peggy taught me) and it's delicious!

Ted and I wish all of our friends a very safe Merry Christmas and remember..."Ain't Life Grand!"

Sketchy wi-fi!

Unfortunately at Pio Pico, our wi-fi is sketchy at best!  We use a special antenna booster and it definitely helps but sometimes is not strong enough to use the computer efficiently!  In other words, IT DRIVES US CRAZY and the blog can't always get done!!!!

Anyway, Thursday we had lunch with our friends Jeri and Stach Gutowski.  They are close friends and it was great to get together with them.  My best friend Peggy came over for Survivor in the evening!  The three of us are long-time Survivor fans. 

Friday was some last minute Christmas shopping and we stopped by Ideal Plumbing, the company I retired from.  It was fun to see everyone that was there.   Our friends, and owners of the business, Don and Melissa are our property managers on our rental.

On Saturday we had Christmas with our friend Peggy and her family.  Her son, Sean, cooked a prime rib that was delicious.  We had creamed spinach, twice-baked potatoes and a delicious slaw.  Of course dessert was scrumptious, an apple crisp and a pumpkin trifle, both made by Peggy of course!  We never go hungry at Peg's house!  It was also a celebration for her Dad's birthday.  It was a fun day. 

Charger Sunday was fantastic.  What a squeaker of a game, so exciting and thank goodness, a good result!  After the game we went back to Peg's for leftovers (even better than the first time around) and Survivor finale!  It was an interesting season for Survivor!

Today was heaven!  Ted, Peg and I went to breakfast at D-Z Akins.  They have a two egg, two pancake, 3 sausage or bacon for $3.95.  Breakfast was up to their usual tasty standard!  Peggy found an ad for a 1-hr foot massage for $20.00, so the three of us decided to go for it.  It was wonderful.  We were all in at the same time (lined up side by side) and they started with our heads, necks, shoulders and down our backs.  Then they worked on our arms and hands.  From there, our feet (which were soaking in warm water).  After our feet they worked on our legs and back.  It was all heavenly!  We will definitely try it again.

Having a massage..."Ain't Life Grand!"

Girls Night Out 2009!

Wednesday night was the GNO Christmas get together.  As always, Peggy is a terrific hostess and what a fun night it was. There was yummy food such as Pasta with Alfredo, shrimp, artichoke, edamame, snow pea sauce. We had zucchini casserole, broccoli, chopped salad and before you think we eat too healthy, a to-die-for apple trifle! The drink of the day was a new concoction of bourbon, carmel apple cider, champagne with cranberries for prettiness!  There were lots and lots of laughs (we are a bunch of crazy women) and we all ended up with great gifts!

Ted and Max stayed home and had Filippe's Pizza!

Girls night out..."Ain't Life Grand!"

Back in San Diego!

We are back! We had a fun and busy weekend in Atwater, California. Vicky and Billy hosted the red lips group for the six time and such a fun time it was! There was a total of 18 people involved with some coming and going. We pretty much lived at their house all weekend! There were laughs galore, food galore and lots of catching up! For Friday nights' dinner I made a gingerbread and pumpkin Triffle! Most of you know I don't cook so I called Chef Peggy and off the top of her head she came up with the Triffle. Everyone was amazed that I made it and that it was delicious!

Billy and Vicky's son plays in a band and has many musician friends. He invited them over Saturday afternoon and they set up in the garage and played for us. They played the rock and roll from the 60's high school days, surf music and more. The cutest drummer is Vicky and Billy's great grandson! He's ready to join the band.

Saturday night was the gift exchange. Each person brings a gag gift and a good gift. The best gag gift this year came all the way from Austria. Not sure how they managed to get it back to the states.   Phil and Elaine brought it and it was wrapped beautifully. Vicky chose the package and as she slowly peeled open the paper, decided it looked like a dead animal. Guess what, it was! It was a stuffed dead weasel, with teeth! Our mountain woman, Neddy decided she liked "Glen" and took him off her hands.  Boy was Vicky happy about that! I'm not going to tell you about the naked hillbilly I got! But we all had a lot of fun!

Of course there had to be a red lips picture!

We all appreciate Vicky and Billy for hosting the party.

On Monday we left the cold and rain behind in Atwater and headed for Acton, California with our red lip friends Jim and Della for one night. After Della & Jim's left over spaghetti (which tasted even better than over the weekend) we had a good game of Phase 10.  It was good because I won for a change! Ted won over the weekend.   I think that is a first. Jim or Della most always win!

Yesterday we headed for San Diego and here we are at Pio Pico Campground in Jamul. We are scheduled to be here until January 4th (three weeks), 2010. YIKES!

Back in San Diego..."Ain't Life Grand!"

Leaving Fresno today!

Yesterday Ted noticed one of our front tires didn't wear well.  Apparently the tire toed in and ate up the outside of the tire so it had to be changed.  So yesterday Ted took it to a place where they rearranged most of the tires and put the spare on the back and realigned the tires.   Meanwhile, I stayed home and did some laundry and played games on the computer!

Last night we met Chip and Stephen with their girlfriends Haley and Marissa, for dinner.  We went to a pizza place with them.  It is fun to be with the kids and their dates.

Today we leave for Atwater which is up the road about 100 miles.  A group of "Red Lip Society" friends from Ted's High School are meeting for a Christmas celebration weekend, so more to follow....

Dinner with family..."Ain't Life Grand!"

Visiting Our Nephews!

We left Bakersfield yesterday morning and are now in Fresno where our three nephews live. Last night we had dinner with Craig (oldest) and Stephen (youngest). Craig started Law School in the fall and he looked pretty exhausted. He works at a law firm full time and attends school full time. He finished his last final for the semester on Monday night. Stephen is in his first year of college at Fresno State and also works. He has finals next week so he's still stressing!

Today we somehow managed to have lunch with all three of them! Chip is a Senior at Fresno State. He will graduate in June with an engineering degree. He also works. All three of them are incredibly busy so it's a special treat when we get them all together. It's fun to be with them and watch them interact with each other. We are so proud of all three of them!

And, as you can see, they are pretty good looking too!

Ted and I did a little shopping after lunch and then headed back to the campground.

Craig is taking a break from school and work and going on a 3-day cruise from San Diego down to Mexico with a couple of his study group friends so we won't see him until the next time we visit. Tomorrow night we are going to have dinner with Chip and Stephen and their girlfriends.

Three great guys..."Ain't Life Grand"

Winter is upon us!

Yesterday we went to Ethel M's chocolate factory in Las Vegas! They have realllllly great chocolate. Everything is freshly made with no wax or other preservatives. We left there and headed to our friend's David and Debbie Hawkins for dinner.  Max was invited and we all had a great dinner and an enjoyable evening.

This morning we left Las Vegas and headed to Fresno via Bakersfield. We got on the road were amazed at the snow in the Red Rock Mountains. When we went to the Hawkins' yesterday there was no snow and overnight it snowed quite a bit.  We continued on and the skies were looking very dark and rainy.  We knew there was a storm near San Francisco so we decided to call the road condition number to see if Highway 58 from Barstow to Bakersfield was open. The recording indicated there was no problem at this time so we took off on 58.   When we got to Mojave it was raining pretty hard. We went over the Tehachapi mountain range and the temperature kept dropping. The summit is approximately 4,000 feet and we drove through a bit of sleet and fog. Conditions weren't great but still passable so we carried on and arrived in Bakersfield at 3:00. Watching the news at 5:00 we found that 58 was now closed because of snow! Around 6:00 they closed the Grapevine! We were very happy to be settled on this side of the mountain and although it's still raining we are toasty warm and not snowed in!  Tomorrow we should be able to get to Fresno!

Making it safely over the mountains..."Ain't Life Grand!"

Viva Las Vegas!

Yesterday morning we ran some errands and drove over to the strip to check out the parking at the Wynn Hotel where we were seeing a show last night. When you drive "a manly truck" you need to make sure there is some place to park it! We were meeting friends David and Debbie Hawkins for dinner at the Wynn and then we were going to see a show there, Le Reve, a Cirque du Soleil type of show.

We got there a little bit early and walked around to check out the hotel and did a little bit of gambling (donating). We saw the Parasol Lounge but unfortunately with my cell phone it did not photograph well. It is outside and is a waterfall falling from the bushes, there is an infinity looking pool with a statue near the edge that looks like someone standing there! It was pretty cool looking.

We met David and Debbie for dinner and did a bit of catching up since the last time we saw them, until time for us to go to the show.   Le Reve is an amazing aquatic show of acrobatic dives, strength and stunts with synchronized swimming. It is very dramatic and almost sensual. The "actors" are in amazing shape!  The show is directed by Frank Dragone who directed "O", "Mystere" and Celine Dion. Ted and I really enjoyed the show.  There was no photography during the show just before and after so used my cell phone to get a couple of pictures.

After the show it was still early so we walked over to the Encore Hotel.   Fortunately the hotels are linked by a hall of very exclusive shops, none of which had any customers, so we didn't have to venture out in the cold! We decided to try our luck again and Ted won $160.00! I gave another small donation!

Today we went over to Boulder Station, the casino/hotel near our campground. We had breakfast and spent most of the day gaming! I still had no luck but I think Ted broke even after paying for breakfast. We had a late lunch and had to wait so long we got that for free!

Seeing Le Reve...'Ain't Life Grand!"

Casino, wine, pie & bingo!

Yesterday was a busy day. We started out at the Castle Cliff Casino ready to win - WRONG! We made our donation and had lunch. Right outside our campground and down a dirt road is a winery. The Alcantara Winery. We decided to taste their wines. It's a very small winery just starting out in 2005 so their vines are very young.  They make less than 300 cases a year.  Right now they  purchase the majority of their grapes from a relative in Paso Robles. We bought two bottles, a Petit Syrah and a Moscato.

After wine tasting we headed to the RV and  then went to a pie social (our dinner) at the campground. There was a group of 39 who had pie or carrot cake and then we played Card Bingo. Ted had pie and I had carrot cake. Both were good, enjoyed meeting a few people but again - NO LUCK for us!  The lady at our table said she wanted to win the last hand (worth the most money).  She mentioned it many times and then she actually did win the final bingo!

This morning we left Valley Verde and arrived in Las Vegas this afternoon!

Games, wine and pie..."Ain't Life Grand!"

Valley Verde

We left Tucson Monday morning and drove a couple hundred miles north to Valley Verde. I took some pictures along the way that I thought were interesting! The highway patrol sets up these unmanned cars with cameras and about a mile ahead warn you so you can slow down and go the speed limit and then you pass the car and go whatever speed you were going before. Not sure I find that too effective???? The Christmas decoration is in the middle of nowhere between 4 lanes of light traffic. Your guess as to what that is about is as good as mine!

Today I got my nails done and then Ted and I headed to Montezuma's Castle. It got Montezuma's name but he was actually not there.  They kept the name anyway! The Sinagua farmers began building this five-story 20-room dwelling in the 1100's. It stands in a cliff recess 100 feet above the valley. Some of the buildings were restored in the 1920's. Beaver Creek is close by to supply water and the ground was fertile for farming. They don't know for sure what happened to the Sinagua because they disappeared after 300 years. But they think they mixed with the Hopi Indians and left with them for some reason. You can't get inside the dwelling these days but get a good view from the ground below. The pictures in the second row are of Castle A. It is badly deteriorated but was once a six story building of 45 rooms.

Enjoying the cliff dwellings..."Ain't Life Grand!"

Must be Sunday we are in Tucson AZ!

This morning the skies were cloudy but the rain held off long enough for us to get on the road! Ted stayed dry! It had rained most of the night so that was lucky! The KOA campground at Las Cruces was on a hill and the view this morning with the clouds was beautiful. The camera really doesn't capture how pretty it was. In the distance (under clouds) is the Guadalupe Mountain range. The mountains were difficult to see but beautiful.

On the drive to Tucson we were in and out of rain but felt very lucky that huge storms stayed north and south of us, it could have been ugly!

We decided to stay at one of our membership reciprocal resort campgrounds. It is a huge park with space for RV's and an area that has mobile homes/park models for more than 1500 spaces. They have a restaurant, bar and grill, hair and nail spa, barber shop, tanning salon and more. It is a nice park. We decided to have dinner in the restaurant. My grilled salmon was good but Ted's chicken fried steak was pretty hard and his potatoes were cold.

Tomorrow we head for Camp Verde, Arizona. Should be a short trip about 200 miles. I hope to get my nails done before we leave.

Missing the bad weather..."Ain't Life Grand!"

Las Cruces, New Mexico

We made it out of Texas today!  We drove about 275 miles today to Las Cruces.  We didn't realize we gained back an hour today so we were here early!  We drove around town and much to Ted's dismay came upon a Starbucks yum!  We refueled the truck and checked out the town and then headed back to the campground. 

Shortly after we got back to the campground the skies opened up with rain, thunder and lightning.  Poor Max really distresses over the noise of it all.  Fortunately it stopped pretty quick but still looks very dark.  It is supposed to rain here tomorrow.  Hopefully it will let up long enough for Ted to get us hooked up to head to Tucson, Arizona.  It's supposed to be raining there also.

White chocolate mocha from Starbucks..."Ain't Life Grand!" (for me anyway!)

Thanksgiving Dinner

Ted and I enjoyed our Thanksgiving and of course ate tooooo much! Cheryl and Dan cooked two turkeys and a ham plus all the trimmings. Gloria baked pumpkin and pecan pies and yummy yams! We had homemade cookies galore! We played a couple of different games, Imagine If and Apples to Apples. Both are fun games and even the little kids played. It was a fun day! Max was very busy following everyone around and "vacuuming" anything to eat that fell on the floor! When we got in the truck to go home his head hit the pillow and he was soon snoring! He was pooped!

This morning we left Boerne and are in Ft. Stockton Texas, about 300 miles west. We got in this afternoon and drove in to town to gas up. Tommorrow we will head for Los Cruces, New Mexico.

On the road again..."Ain't Life Grand!"

Happy Thanksgiving!

Today is a good day to give thanks.  Ted and I are very thankful for our friends and family.  We are thankful for all of the service men and women all over the world doing their best for our country to keep us safe.  We are thankful for each other and Max too!  We hope you all have a blessed day and enjoy your family and friends.

We are spending the day with Ted's cousin Gloria, John, their daughter Cheryl, her family and a few of their friends.  There will be two tons of great food to eat but remember Thanksgiving calories don't count!

Yesterday we had breakfast with our friend Laura as she was on her way out of town to Waco, Texas to visit her daughter and son-in-law for Thanksgiving. 

Last night we had dinner with Gloria and John and their two youngest grandkids.  We played games after dinner.  The two youngest kids were very good at the "Shut The Box" game so I gave it to them.  It helps teach math.  They are only 4 and 6 years old and did great.  Then we taught Grandma and Grandpa to play Phase 10, a favorite game of friends Jim and Della Crownover.   Jim and Della always beat us so we thought we had a chance with the beginners...WRONG!   John was the big winner!  He was so excited he was ready to play another game but it was already 10:00 p.m. and time to call it a day!

Happy Thanksgiving to all and remember..."Ain't Life Grand!" 

Camp Verde and more...

On Monday we drove to Kerrville (approximately 55 miles from our campground) to meet friends Martha and Victor Milting. We know them because my ex-husband's Aunt Lucille was a cousin to June. Martha and June have been friends for fifty years and Martha came to San Diego with June one time. We didn't know Martha very well and Victor not at all. Victor is a retired Continental Airlines pilot and he and Ted enjoyed talking about airplanes and flying. Victor was celebrating his 80th birthday so they took us to Camp Verde for lunch to celebrate. We had a very enjoyable day with them.

Camp Verde is an experience. It is a general store, post office and cafe! Camp Verde is a historical monument with an interesting history. In 1855 Congress approved a bill that appropriated $30,000 for the army to experiment with using camels for army transportation and other military purposes. Three loads of camels with brought to Ft. Camp Verde and they became pack animals traveling longer distances and carrying heavier loads than mules. After the civil war there was no money to continue the camel experiment and they were turned loose to range the countryside. The fort was deactived in 1869 and in 1910 the fort buildings were destroyed by fire. After the fort was deactivated the general store and post office continued serving pioneer ranchers who had settled in this area.

The food is delicious and inexpensive and it's a lot of fun to look around the store.

Yesterday we took the RV in to have the trailer brakes bled and for them to install a new microwave. Thank goodness we purchased the Good Sam Warranty Insurance, this is the second time it's been helpful. Of course a 9:00 appointment turned into a 2:00 appointment and we finally got out at 5:00! In the meantime we went to Cracker Barrel for an enjoyable breakfast/lunch and did some shopping. After we got the RV rehooked up, we took off to Cheryl and Dan's for tamales! We played some games after dinner and of course had dessert! It was a full and fun evening!

Lunch at Camp Verde..."Ain't Life Grand!"

The weekend in Texas!

Saturday turned out to be a pretty sunny fall day in Boerne, Texas. We met Laura at Dodger Duck for dinner. Dodger Duck is a microbrewery/restaurant in an old house. Across the street is the Guadalupe River filled with ducks but don't know if that's how the restaurant got it's name. After a good dinner we went over to Ye Kendall Inn for a nice glass of port. A very enjoyable evening.

Today around noon John and Gloria picked us up at the campground and we were all starved. We headed to Bandera for lunch at Busbee's Bar-B-Que restaurant. Bandera is noted to be the "Cowboy Capital of the World"! Main Street looks like it could be right out of a western movie except it is paved!  We had delicious barbeque brisket, turkey and sausage, potatoe salad, beans and coleslaw.

After lunch John took us to Lost Maples Texas State Park in the Texas Hill Country on the Sabinal River.  We were a little late in the season to really see the spectacular change of color in the bigtooth maple trees but it was still very pretty.  The trail we hiked went along the river which was pretty shallow and really clear!  It's a nice little park to hike and I imagine it looks very different with each season change and very pretty.

On the drive home several hours later we decided that after that large lunch and that nice little hike, DQ was in order!  John, Ted and I had hot fudge sundaes and Gloria had a German chocolate blizzard!  We decided that would be dinner! 

Ice cream for dinner..."Ain't Life Grand!"

Homemade Apple Pie!

Last night we had dinner at Gloria and John's house.  Gloria set a beautiful table (which I forgot to take a picture of) with all of her matching dishes and glassware.  She had a greenbean casserole, sauteed squash, a nice green salad and baked potatoes and John barbecued pork chops.  You are probably wondering why I would feel the need to write about this????  It's because she also made an apple pie from scratch including the double crust pie shell.  Ted and I have voted this the "Best Apple Pie Ever"!

Bet you can guess what makes..."Ain't Life Grand!"

Chores and things!

This week we have continued trying to get things done on the RV, get our satelite problem fixed and miscellaneous chores!  Monday was spent getting nails done, a Costco run and some other things.  Tuesday was to get the satelite to work in the bedroom.  We had a good signal on the dish but could only watch TV in the living room.  Matt from Ultimate Theatre came out and couldn't see any problem with the set-up or the splitter so decided it may be the receiver.  I took off to Boerne and brought back a new receiver.  Ted hooked everything up and now we couldn't even get a signal on either TV and of course the shop was now closed.  After talking to Matt he said we go and get a new satelite head from the shop! 

We then headed back to Boerne to have dinner with John and Gloria.  They took us to Papa Nachos.  They have very good Mexican food.  On Wednesday we went to Boerne and picked up the new head, retrieved our old receiver box and ran some other errands.  We had lunch at the Little Gretel German Restaurant across the street from the river.  Had a nice lunch and then headed back to the RV to hookup the TV stuff.  After Ted got it all hooked up, it still was acting up, turning itself off and on and trying to run tests over and over.  We finally replaced the cable from the satelite to the RV (our last option) and that worked.  Of course it still took over an hour to do the testing and process the guide etc. but we finally had TV in both rooms! 

Today we finally washed the last side of the RV.  It's probably going to rain tonight or tomorrow but we still needed to get the road grime off from the past rains!  Tonight Gloria and/or John are making dinner for us.  Last Friday night John cooked a roast, with potatoes, gravy, green beans, corn and rolls.  He's a pretty good cook!  (Don't get a big head John - I know he reads the blog!).  Gloria made two cakes for dessert that were yummy!  John also cooked a great breakfast for us last Saturday before we took off to Sea World.  Their daughter, Cheryl, made dinner for us Saturday night.  We are definitely getting spoiled with all of the good cookin'!

Good eats, a clean RV and TV..."Ain't Life Grand!"

Sunday afternoon!

On Sunday we drove over to the east side of Boerne to visit our friend Laura and her four dogs and three or four cats. She has an older dog that loves to chase sticks - into her pond!   It had rained and I don't think the water in the pond was too warm but she loved jumping in to fetch the stick! Laura showed us around her two acres of land, with the nice pond and lots of beautiful oak trees. She is planning to build her own house and has her work cut out for her! She is currently building a one room house with a loft to practice on and already has her plans for the main house she is planning to build. Very industrious woman!

After we looked around her property, she followed us back to Lakehills where we are camped. We showed her around our 40' RV! That took a couple minutes and we sat down, had a glass of wine and talked.   Laura stayed for dinner (and survived my cooking as far as we know)!

Later in the evening when it was time to go to bed, Max ran in to get his chewy, something he does to indicate bed time. I thought he looked so cute "smoking his pipe"!

Around 2:00 this morning we had a heck of a Texas storm! It was thunder and lightning with a torrent of rain! Max was scared too death, shivering and shaking and asking us to make it stop! It finally did and we were all able to go back to sleep. It was a doozy! Today was very windy with clear sunny skies. It never got over 61 degrees today as far as I know.

Sunday afternoons..."Ain't Life Grand!"

Sea World Texas!

Yesterday John and Gloria took us along to Sea World Texas with their daughter Bonnie (from the Dallas area) and her son Rick. We also took Oliva and Jack (two of their other grandkids). Ted and I had not been to Sea World in a very long time.  We had a lot of fun!

We went to the dolphin petting pool.  The dolphins were being very playful!  We took a walk through the Shark/Coral Reef tanks.  They have jellyfish, of course lots of different types of sharks, lots of coral, little frogs, eels, beautiful sea anemone's and much much more.

Being this is the fall season, there were only a couple of shows open but they were good ones!  The sea lion/walrus show is really great.  It's so amazing what they can train these animals to do!  It's really a cute show and you've gotta love the sea lion's RED LIPS!  (Vicky eat you heart out!) 

The walrus, Uncle Max, didn't want to come out through "his fish company" so came swimming out instead.  He soon got his rhythm going and charmed us all.

Ted, Bonnie, Olivia and Gloria were very brave and rode the Journey to Atlantis ride.  I took a video of them but it didn't want to download.  It's a roller coaster with a very wet ending!  They all seemed to enjoy being cooled off!

Jack indicated he wanted to go to the 4-D Pirate movie.  After discussion we all agreed to go.  It was a packed house so Jack sat on my lap.  There were lot's of things happening to the bad pirates, and us such as bird's pooping on us and Jack was having a good time.  But when the hornets buzzed us and the spider tried to get us, it was too much for both Jack and Olivia and we had to leave the theatre (along with lots of other small kids).  Jack said he is NEVER going back to that movie, but as we left he was sure watching the bats flying towards us!

Next was the amazing Shamu Show.  You just have to see it to believe it!

The last thing we did was walk through the "fishy" penguin encounter.  They are so funny when they play in the water and so serious when they are standing on land!

Throughout the day I took pictures of the cute animals spotted around the park:

What a group!  The weather was beautiful, the kids were great and a good time was had by all!

Watching the fish tank..."Ain't Life Grand!"

Truck Repairs - again and Max gets a haircut!

We've kept busy this week with appointments. On Tuesday we had Class A RV (RV repair place) coming out to the campground to measure the space for our convection microwave which stopped working. The keypad won't work and the fan for convection continues running so while waiting for them we got to washing the RV. The RV was filthy from driving in lots of rain. You'd think it would be cleaner but the road stuff sprays the entire body of the RV with mud. I must say it is somewhat satisfying to wash something that is so dirty but now my back and neck are stiff! Too out of shape for manual labor!

On Wednesday we took the truck to the Ford dealer for brakes. They started making a sound about 3 days prior. Of course the back discs were already gouged and had to be replaced for a fortune. The service writer was astonished at how huge the discs are and apparently they have to be turned (whatever that means) prior to installing. We also had a leak in the radiator reservoir that needed to be fixed and oil and filter change. It is never ending! After we dropped off the truck the shuttle took us to town. We dropped off Max at the groomer and went to the Peach Cafe for a nice breakfast. We spent the morning walking around town checking out all of the shops and then headed back to the dealer to rent a car since they had to order the discs. We picked up a freshly groomed Max and visited Gloria and her 4 "charges". She does day care for 4 babies under 1 year old! She is a very brave woman. Max of course looks very handsome (except for all his old age warts)!  He was quite the poser!

Yesterday I got my hair cut (and colored) and we picked up the truck. Met John and Gloria for dinner. We headed toward San Antonio to Chesters. They have "the best hamburgers in the state" - their claim to fame! We had lots of laughs and a good dinner with John and Gloria and headed home.

Eating cheeseburgers in Texas.."Ain't Life Grand!"

Ye Kendall Inn in Boerne, Texas

Yesterday we had lunch with our friend Laura Joann at the Historic Ye Kendall Inn, a national landmark. In 1859 the land was purchased for $200 and a house was built. Originally travelers would stay as guests of the owners then they started renting out the rooms of the house and it became an authentic stagecoach Hotel. They added two long wings in 1978 and in 1982 extensive restoration began that is ongoing today. The main structure is constructed of native rock walls 20" thick. There is approximately 6.5 acres of property and includes several buildings. There is said to be evidence in the cellar of a tunnel which connected the old hotel with another building a block away! It is a beautiful hotel and lunch was delicious! It was fun looking around the hotel.

Outside views of the courtyard, cabins and the front of the hotel:

Ye Kendall Inn..."Ain't Life Grand!"

Football & Food!

A day of football and food, does it get any better than that???? Our friends John and Gloria took us over to their kids' home; Cheryl (daughter), Dan (son-in-law) and three kids: Haley, Olivia and the famous Jack, for food and football! This is a "Sunday Event" all football season. I thought they must have been cooking for days (except they weren't even sure what they were having on Saturday afternoon)! They cooked a pork loin stuffed with jalapenos and cheddar cheese - now those of you who know me, know I can't comment on the taste of that! But they also had a plain one for wimps like me! They also barbecued chicken, had fresh cooked green beans, a 5-cheese mac and cheese and corn on the cob. Everything was so yummy! Of course there was dessert, brownies and a yummy white cake with a pudding frosting that was delicious!

Oh yeah, and there was a lot of football!!!!    They are originally from Illinois so they are Bears fans. Dan subscribes to all of the sports channels and has a channel that shows six or seven games at a time, with one screen that shows any game with action on the goal line! A few friends stopped by to enjoy the day, along with a rain storm and cute little bitty frogs! It was a great day even though the Bears lost. (But the Chargers won!  YEAH)...

There are tons of deer (and a few dogs too) at the campground and lots of fawns!  As we were leaving yesterday I took a couple pictures of just a few of them wandering around.

Great food and football..."Ain't Life Grand!"

Back to Boerne, Texas

We are back in Boerne which is just a few miles down the road from Fredericksberg.  We are camped at Lake Medina in the Hill Country west of Boerne.  They told us the draught is over but the lake is still really low.  So low you can't use the boat ramp to get your boat in the water!  This is the campground that is full of deer.  They pay attention to you but don't seem to be afraid.  Yesterday afternoon there were a dozen hanging around an RV that must feed them.

In the afternoon we took off to Boerne to visit with John & Gloria Eaton (Ted's cousin).  We went to dinner at Willie's!  It's a very popular place.  You go in and order, get your drink, and then take your order sheet to your table where the waitress takes it and processes it.  They have large glass garage doors that they raise as long as the weather is nice (which it was last night).  By the large outside seating they have a big sand box for the little kids, and it was full of little kids!  I had the baby back ribs and they were very good!  Everyone enjoyed their dinner.

We headed back to John and Gloria's for more gabbing..."Ain't Life Grand!"

Shopping & Dinner in Fredericksberg!

"Today our friends took off to Kerrsville to look at the area.  Ted and I spent the day in Fredericksberg shopping and walking around town.  It was such a beautiful sunny day in the mid 70's.  Our friends Jeri and Stan had given me a welcome banner for my birthday and today we found another banner that said "Island Attitude" with pretty hibiscus on the banner!  We also found a table decoration in fall colors for the RV. 

We met up with Pam, Jonathan and Nicholas for dinner.  A friend of theirs had recommended the Rathskeller Restaurant.  It is a small underground restaurant with very friendly servers.  We all had a great dinner!  It was a fun evening with our friends.

Finding small things to buy..."Ain't Life Grand!"

Fredericksberg, Texas

We got to Fredericksberg yesterday afternoon. We are in a pretty camground that has big pretty trees (and unfortunately mosquitos)! This morning we drove to the Austin, Texas Airport to meet our friends the Pullens. They were surprised to see us! We got to the airport early and looked around. The guitar display was at the baggage claim area at the airport.

After they collected their bags and their car, we had a nice lunch together and we both headed back to Fredericksberg. They were going to check into their hotel and probably take a nap! They left Murrietta around 3:30 a.m. and by the time they got to their hotel it must have been 5:30!   I think they were all pretty tired!

Cool guitars..."Ain't Life Grand!"

Moving on down the road...

After we left Long Lane we drove south and a bit west to Checotah (She-co-ta) Oaklahoma!  We were camped on the Eufala River (you know eu falla and can't get up river)!  Max and I wandered up on three deer early one morning, very pretty. 

One of the "benefits" listed in the campground brochure was the storm cellar.  Is that scary or what????  We were parked next to it but I forgot to take a picture of it.  It looked somewhat like a quonset hut but to make it pretty they painted pictures all over it.  It was made of thick steel and had large air vents.  I think that was the first one I have ever seen.

Last night we spent the night at Lake Whitney, Texas.  It was a beautiful warm sunny day. We are moving down to Fredericksberg, Texas.  Our friends from Murrietta; California, Pam, Jonathan and Nicolas Pullen are visiting there.  They are looking at various "retirement areas"!  You might recall we visited Salida, Colorado to check it out for them!

Not sure if I mentioned lady bugs in Illinois.  We can't get rid of them.  We still have dozens showing up in our RV every day.  They must have hatched babies.  Instead of red and black they are gold and black and they do bite.  I got 3 bites on the neck!  I used to like lady bugs but they are being a big pain!

Enjoying our travels..."Ain't Life Grand!"

Long Lane Missouri

We were in Long Lane, Missouri since the 28th visiting our friends, Bill and Ginny Nasse. Ted lived at the Reynard Arms apartments after he got out of the military and came back to San Diego. Bill had also rented an apartment while he was starting a business in San Diego. Ginny and their children still lived in Los Angeles while Ginny took care of their business up there. She would come down on the weekends. They had lots of fun with several residents at the apartments having barbecues and get togethers. We had a good time catching up on their lives and ours.
Unfortunately we didn't have wi-fi so have gotten behind in our blogs so please be patient while I catch up! 

The first night there Bill and Ginny took us to "The Cave Restaurat".  We drove to the restaurant where we waited for a shuttle.  It was raining pretty hard and the van took us up a narrow, rutted road up 1200 feet above the river.  It was an "E" ticket ride if you know what I mean!  You have to be old enough and lived in Southern California to understand what that means!  The van stopped by an elevator that took us up to the restaurant that is totally in a cave.  They have special equipment to help keep the spring water in the cave to a minimum.  It was very interesting and the food was good.  The owner, Gary, knows our friends and spent time with us telling us about the cave and his future plans.  He's owned the cave for about 6 months.

The next afternoon Bill and Ginny took us to the Fantastic Caverns in Springfield, Missouri.  In this cave they have a jeep that pulls a cart so you just ride through.  It's not a very big cave but has some interesting things in it.  It had two really large sink holes in it and lots of stalactites and stalacmites.  There were a group of women scientists who went in by themselves in the 1930's to check the cavern out, crawling through a tiny hole and using candle power to see what they were looking at.  I think they were very brave!

On Friday they took us to Bennett Springs.  It is a State Park with a huge spring and fish hatchery.  They also have a lodge, restaurant, campground and a general store.  The spring averages 100 million gallons of water per day, every day!  They stock the spring with rainbow and brown trout so fishing is very popular there.  We saw a crawfish in the water and I took a picture of a gentleman's Rainbow Trout!  It was the first beautiful, sunny day we had in a long time!

On Saturday Bill borrowed two ATV's from their neighbor.  Bill has 5 to 10 acres around the house that he keeps mowed and the rest of it is wooded.  There are lots of deer in the woods and his lets his friends hunt there during deer season.  Hunting season for kids started on Saturday so we all wore bright colors in case anyone on one of the surrounding properties was hunting.  We rode the ATV's around his entire property.  He has a couple of ponds, a 50' deep by 200' wide sink hole that is probably a cavern and lots of springs.  We had a fun ride!

We truly had a great visit with Bill and Ginny. It was fun to get to know them and they are wonderful hosts! Oh yeah, forgot to tell you how we got stuck in their yard! With all the rain, the truck got stuck in the mud, fortunately our RV wasn't stuck. Bill's son came over with his semi tractor and Bill hooked up his yard tractor and together they were able to pull us out. We ended up parking in the gravel driveway and they were able to drive the car around us in the grass without getting stuck and we were able to level the RV!

I've really enjoyed Missiouri (except for all the rain).  The rolling hills and trees, it's very pretty.  I found it interesting that the State Road names are all letters.  We camped on UU Road in Cuba which was close to ZZ Road.  Bill and Ginny live on P Road and we drove down A Road to get there!

Enjoying Missouri..."Ain't Life Grand!"