A day at the Bass Pro Shop!

On Wednesday we met our friends Pam, Jon and their Grandson Nick at the Bass Pro Shop.  Nick and Pam had not been there before and Nick loves fishing and guns so we thought it would be right up his alley!  We had a great time looking at everything from ATV's, fishing boats, party boats, guns, clothes, shoes, things for the home and much much more!  The place is huge.  They have fish ponds, a shooting gallery, a climbing wall and more. I think Pam and I had just as much fun as the guys! We looked around, played on everything, shot the stuff in the shooting gallery and then we all had lunch in their restaurant, The Fish Company.  They had a huge salt water aquarium and if you watched Nick you would have guessed that he was watching tv.  I don't think he ever took his eyes off of the fish (maybe planning how to catch them)!  Lunch was good and it was a fun time! 

We've been having dinner with John in the evenings and tonight will be our last dinner together.  Tomorrow morning we still stop to get the air checked in the tires on the 5th wheel then we will head north on I-35 through Austin and stop for the night around Waco.   From San Antonio it takes two days no matter which way you go to get through Texas! 

This morning we saw one of the baby fawns on the side of the road.  It was laying in the grass but still alive, had probably been hit by a car.  We notified the park so someone would take care of it.  We didn't want it suffering.  There are sooo many deer and sooo many get hit by cars, they don't get too excited by it but it was sad.  The babies are so cute.

This little one still has it's spots! 

The town of Boerne is getting ready for the 4th of July.  There is a park near the Guadalupe River that is having a concert and yesterday they had these little flags along all the walk ways.  There is a walk way around the whole park and then four walk ways to the center like this one!  It looked really cool!

Leaving Boerne for hopefully cooler weather......"Ain't Life Grand!"

Seeing new friends in Boerne!

On Sunday we had dinner with Lou and Carol.  We met them at the "Traveling Supremes" RV rally in Palo Duro, Texas.  They live in Boerne and invited us over for dinner.  They have a lovely ranch style house on 6 acres of land in the hills on the outskirts of Boerne.  He has a nice barn for his RV to keep it out of the weather.  He showed us a great run-off water system he devised.  If it rains an inch he ends up with 1200 gallons of water!  He has four large tanks under an aluminum roof that collect the water that falls on the roof.  He has room under it for two more large tanks.  I think he holds about 20,000 gallons of water right now.  The water goes through several filters before going through the tank.  He uses the water for house and yard.  It was very interesting and well done.

Unfortunately, Carol had a call from her son and she had to leave to take her mom to Urgent Care to have her eye looked at.  Lou was a gracious host and served up a delicious pork roast stuffed with mild jalapeno's (a little spicy but I ate around them), green beans and sweet potatoes.  For dessert he cooked biscuits with strawberries and cream.  When I was helping clean up I noticed he forgot to serve the nice salad Carol had set up on plates for us.  We were too full to eat them to keep Carol from finding out!!!   We called them this morning and her mom is doing okay!

There is a restaurant north of Boerne called Popo's Restaurant.  It was started in 1929 as a dance hall and has a colorful history.  Carol's Grandfather bought it in 1950 and made it into a family restaurant.  The family would close for one month a year and her Grandfather took the whole family on vacation and started collecting plates from their travels which adorn the walls of the restaurant.  There are 2000+ plates on the walls!  The family sold the business in 1983 but Carol's mother who is 86 years old, still works there making the salads!  Carol said she started there at age 8 and worked there for a long time!  Ted's cousin Gloria and John have taken us to there and we recall that it was a cute restaurant with really good food! 

Today we are hanging out at the campsite. 

Getting some chores done..."Ain't Life Grand!"

Still in Boerne!

On Thursday morning we were having breakfast when Ted noticed a little fawn with it's mother.  It still looked soaking wet and it's legs weren't working very well like it had just been born!  I tried to take a picture through the window so I wouldn't startle them, but it didn't turn out too well.  It was nursing mama and you can see how little it is from the picture!

For lunch we met a friend, Laura, who has lived in Boerne a long time but whom Ted had met in San Diego.  She has gone back to school at the University of San Antonio so that she may teach school.  She has two more years of college and then depending on the economy, will teach or go back for her Masters degree.  I give her a lot of credit for going back to school.   Her two daughters are both married now and doing very well.  It was fun catching up with her.

After lunch we went back to John's.  I cooked dinner and when he got home from work we spent some time with him before heading home!

Yesterday we dropped Max off at John's and took off to San Antonio.  Our shade was restrung and we wanted to visit the Guenther House.  The Guenther family started the Pioneer Flour mill which is still a working mill.  Next to the mill, the historic family home is a restaurant, store for the flour mill and small museum.  We enjoy visiting it and of course purchased a bag of sweet cream pancakes and sweet cream waffles!  The last time we were at the Guenther house,  they were in the process of extending the Riverwalk which runs right by the house.  It is now finished and looks very nice!

We got to John's in the afternoon and played cards (Phase 10) and I was the big winner!  We decided to go to dinner at Chris Madrid's down in a not so nice part of San Antonio!  They have the biggest, cheesiest hamburgers that are soooo good!  We were stuffed and went home and relaxed our tummies!

This morning John took us down to San Antonio to go to the Mercado, the market place.  We drove around for awhile and didn't find it so decided to abandon that idea and go have lunch.  We were all still full from the night before so we went to Souper! Salad.  We had a good lunch and went back to John's.  He had a lodge event to attend, so we ran some errands.  This afternoon we played another game of Phase 10!  Again...I was the big winner!  (That is very unusual)!  For dinner we had John's homemade apple cake!  That's it, dessert for dinner!  It was delicious!

Eating dessert for dinner..."Ain't Life Grand!"

Fun in Boerne (inspite of the heat)!

We are having a good time in Boerne.  On Tuesday we met up with our friends Pam and Jon Pullen.  Jon and Ted worked together in San Diego.  After Jon retired they moved to Denver, Colorado and spent a year there.  They loved the weather (brrrr) but they missed their family that had moved to San Antonio, Texas.  So in April they moved to San Antonio.  They have a nice apartment in a very nice area of San Antonio and if they decide to stay here, will eventually buy a house!  We had lunch and enjoyed catching up with them.

Tuesday evening we went over to John's house and brought him dinner.  I made a chicken and rice meal (one of my Dinner Studio meals).  He got a call from his realtor and they are a step closer to getting the house.  The sellers had two offers and chose John and Gloria's.  The next step is for approval by the seller's lender because it is a short sale!  We hope that it is just a formality since the bank had approved the sales price.

Around 1 a.m. a storm came in bringing a lot of lightning and then it got closer and there was a lot of thunder.  When it rained, it poured!  We got quite a bit of rain.  It was not as hot yesterday, but more humid!

We took Max to get groomed yesterday.  After dropping him off we went into San Antonio to drop off our day/night shade for restringing.  Then we went to the movies.  We saw Super 8 and really enjoyed it.  It sort of brings you back to your childhood.  I thought the kids were great in the movie!  After we picked up Max we came home and I got some laundry done (yay!).

I've taken a few pictures in the last couple of days.  The deer are still abundant here and we've seen several tiny fawns.  The larger deer sort of glide around but the babies bounce around!  They are so cute.

Time in Boerne..."Ain't Life Grand!"

Eating way to much in Boerne!

Ted's cousin Gloria is off in Illinois, so we are keeping an eye on her husband John.  He even cooked dinner for us on Father's Day!  We had ham and beans and cornbread, a good southern meal even though he's originally from Illinois!  He had fried potatoes and a vegetable tray as well.  He even made a marble cake with chocolate frosting!  Eating way too much food!

Tonight we brought him dinner.  I put the crockpot on with one of my Dinner Studio meals, Arroz Con Pollo (chicken and rice).  It also had vegetables and we had a nice salad and leftover cornbread and of course more cake! 

John and Gloria have been thinking about buying a new house.  Their daughter and her family sold their house and are moving in closer to town (Boerne) and there is a house a couple of blocks away from where they are building a house that is for sale for a good price.  We went over to see it for the second time with John and he put his offer in on it.  They said there was another offer in so we'll see what happens.  It's really a nice house and has a lot of upgrades on the inside.  They are okay either way.  It's a bigger house and two stories.  It will be a good house for Gloria's day care.  She takes care of four babies.  She only babysits for teachers or school principals.  Works out great because she has the summer off.

Still loving our truck in Boerne..."Ain't Life Grand!"

New truck does great and Happy Father's Day to you fathers!

Yesterday was a good test for our new truck.  We finally left about 10:30 am and got down to Boerne about 7:00 pm, fortunately it stays light here until about 9:30 pm!  We varied our speed as required for a new truck and reached 1000 miles around 6:00 last night!   We reached temperatures of  111 degrees and the truck handled the heat with no problem (engine and inside cab).  We enjoyed our Sirius radio all day and even talked a couple of times on the hands free phone!   The new truck rides so much smoother than the old truck, it is great!  Everything worked like it's supposed to and we are keeping our fingers crossed!  Of course one drive does not a truck make!  Our old truck started great (not smooth but problem free) until it reached the two year, 60,000 mile mark!  It was down hill after that!  So we shall see but we are feeling positive vibes from it!!!  LOL

We have been slow starting this morning but are heading over to spend Fathers day with John, Ted's cousin's husband!  He is actually cooking for us! 

The deer here are still abundant and we even saw a tiny little fawn that still had it's spots, about the size of our dog Max but with skinny legs!

Breathing a little easier with the new truck..."Ain't Life Grand!"

YAY! We have our new truck!

We picked up our new truck today!  It is really nice.  They finished the hitch this afternoon and we took possession of the truck!

It has more bells and whistles two old people like us can figure out but we will have lots of fun learning!  Mainly we hope it is not a yellow citrus fruit (if you get my drift) and are happy to have another 100,000 mile warranty!  We have the navagation/sirius radio, a moon roof, heated and air conditioned seats (which we used today in the 105 degree weather), dual climate control and so much more!  Ted would talk about the technical stuff so if your interested you'll have to ask him!

The great thing is the way it rides, it is so smooth compared to our other truck and any truck I've been in!  Tomorrow will be the big test to see how it pulls the RV!  We are heading back down to Boerne and will be there until the 1st!  We will keep you posted!  I took a couple of pictures:

Our sales team and us with the new truck!

 Max likes it too!

The interior is in adobe leather.  The navagation system screen is a touch screen and it comes with finger prints!  LOL.

A beautiful new truck..."Ain't Life Grand!"

Never easy!

Our Ford salesman, John, has been very good about keeping us posted on the status of our new truck.  They got it in yesterday and of course, he told us "it's beautiful"!  Later he called and told us our old truck was sold and the new owner was driving it! 

Then he called to discuss the 5th wheel package.  Ted had asked a lot of questions about what that entailed before we made the deal and because it wasn't explained in the brochure.  It included things we needed such as the electrical set up to plug in the electrical for the trailer and more.  But what they didn't tell us, it had rails underneath the truck that only fit the hitch that you would have to buy from Ford.  We have a hitch that we really like and didn't want to buy a new one. No problem! The problem came when they found that what was installed underneath the truck did not allow our hitch to fit.  Ted told them to remove it, he had looked at it and thought they would only have to remove the exhaust pipes and a few bolts and that would be it.  Well, yesterday when John called he said they would have to remove the bed, remove the rails and reinstall the bed.  Ted told him this was a show stopper, that they had all of our money they were going to get!  When he called back he had approval for $350 toward it and the rate would be at the mechanics rate not the Ford rate.  Then, within an hour he called and said it was done, that 5 techs got under there and removed the bolts, lifted it out, removed the rails and were bolting it back in place when he called!  So we'll see how much they charge us.

Gloria is getting ready for her trip.  Yesterday we went shopping and when we got home she made a Mississippi Mud Cake.  Boy are they fattening but delicious!   Max is happy to have green grass in the back yard, squirrels, birds and a dog next door to chase!

Tomorrow morning we will head back up to Canyon, Texas, about 500 miles north and a little west of us. We are keeping our fingers crossed everything will be okay with the new truck! I'll post a picture when we get it!

Trials and tribulations of buying a new vehicle..."Ain't Life Grand!"

Back in Boerne, Tx!

We made it down to Boerne in the "borrowed" F150!  Seems so small compared to the F550!  So far everything has gone as planned with getting the new truck and we will drive back up to Canyon, Texas on Thursday to pick it up.  Hopefully everything will continue to be on schedule and it will be ready for us when we get there, with the bed liner sprayed in and our hitch put in the bed!  They have already sold our truck so it better be as they have said it is!  When we get back to San Diego we will have to ship them the tail gate (at their expense). 

We are enjoying being with Gloria and John.  When we arrived on Sunday we went with them to look at a new house they are thinking about buying!  It's really a nice house and will be a good buy.  If they go for it they will have a bigger house and yard!  They have a lot to think about!

Gloria is getting ready to go back to Illinois on Wednesday to see her Mom, Brother and friends.  Her daughter Cheryl and her three kids:  Haley, Oliva and Jack are also going.  She's been packing this morning and is now making a fabulous sounding dessert while I'm blogging!  Gloria is a great cook!  Yesterday we all played cards with Haley and Oliva.  They are both very good at Phase 10!  They are good kids!

Still hot in Texas..."Ain't Life Grand!"

Busy, busy, busy!

The lasagne I cooked came out great!!!!  It was a fun evening.  There were 26 people in attendance and everyone helps out. 

On Thursday we met in the morning for breakfast, french toast and sausage, very good!  We were on our own for the day until 5:15.  We went in town and looked around.  They have a town square in Canyon with City Hall in the middle and some interesting stores around the square.  We went into Vintage Funk and found some cute things!

Thursday evening we went to have dinner in Palo Duro Canyon at the ampitheater, catered by the "Big Texan" Restaurant.  They have a 72 oz steak that if you eat it and your whole dinner it's free, $72.00 if you don't!  We had steak, salad, watermelon, cheesy potatoes and peach cobbler.  A tasty dinner.  We also had a back stage tour before seeing the muscial play "Texas".  They have been doing the play for 46 years!  Updating it every so often depending on the director, etc.  One of our RV'ers had been in the play for 4 years when he was in high school.  He really enjoyed seeing the changes.

Friday was an interesting day!  We started off with breakfast with the group at the clubhouse and from there we were all headed to the Panhandle High Plains Museum in town.  We got in the truck and had a dead battery.  So we got a jump and then we headed to the Ford dealer.  Lo and behold, we ended up buying a new truck!  A 2011 F450 with a 6.7 litre engine.  We have the problematic 6.0!   They have beefed up the 450 so that it will now haul our 19,000 lb trailer.  We were starting to have a problem with the air conditioning and just decided to do it!  On Monday they will go and get it from Albuquerque, NM, so it will have a few miles on it.  Hopefully enough to break it in and determine if there will be any future problems!  They loaned us an F150 so we could drive down to Boerne and then we will come back on Thursday and get our truck.  We are leaving our RV at the campground! They are having the liner done and our hitch put in so hopefully it will be ready for us when we get back! 

We did make it to the museum and it was very enjoyable.  It is huge and they cover a lot of history from the indians on the plains, the battles in the area, an old oil driller, artwork, clothes, dinosaurs, and so much more!  We were busy with the truck and skipped dinner but made it to a gathering of the group.  It was a beautiful evening under the stars and the coolest we've had since we've been here!  We were ready for a glass of wine!

Tonight is Texas brisket, all the trimmings and a Texas cake!    Everyone leaves tomorrow morning and we are driving down to Boerne to see Ted's cousin before she leaves for Illinois.  We are leaving the RV here and will come back on Thursday!

Keeping you posted on the truck situation..."Ain't Life Grand!"

Palo Duro Canyon

We arrived in the canyon Sunday afternoon. Our campground is on the canyon floor. There were three "Traveling Supremes" couples that came to the canyon for "The Gathering". A pre-get together before the rally starts on Wednesday.   It was nice to start out with a small group to get to know some of the people before the rally.

The temperature was in the 100's and windy all four days. We managed to have fun and sat outside every evening together.   It was still warm but enjoyable.  We had all just gone inside our RV's Monday night when we heard this loud explosion.  We figured out it was from the play that is held in the ampitheatre which we will be seeing on Thursday evening.

On Monday we went into town to get some groceries for the potluck.  We stopped at the Visitor's Center and looked in the small museum and the gift shop.  Monday evening some of the people that were staying outside the canyon where the actual rally will be held, came down to our campground for dinner.  The hosts, Sue and Joe, served up hamburgers for the gang.  Nancy and Bob and Ted and I fixed some things to go with the burgers.  We had about 14 people Mon. evening.

On Tuesday Ted, Max and I took a nice drive around the park.  Dinner Tues. night outside the canyon at the RV park.  Sue and Joe were making pulled-pork sliders and everyone else was contributing side dishes.  Another fine evening of great food!  Ted and I are getting to know a few more people.

Nancy and I were outside by the picnic table when a group of turkeys came by for some food!  Nancy fed them some oatmeal and they loved it!  Probably one of the healthier things they get in the campground!  Max and I saw one deer one morning and Ted and I saw the Texas Longhorns in a field just inside the canyon gate.  They were big guys!

This morning the three couples left the canyon and are about 10 miles from the entrance in the Palo Duro Canyon RV Park.  We will be here until Sunday.  Our hosts, Sue and Joe, have planned a lot of things for us to do.  There are 28 people attending the rally.  We will begin the festivities by eating again!  Tonight is lasagne night and Sue has prepared eveything.  I'm actually helping by cooking one of the pans of lasagne, keep your fingers crossed I don't mess it up!!!!

Meeting new friends and enjoying RVing..."Ain't Life Grand!"

Back in Texas!

We left Holbrook, Arizona Friday morning and spent Friday night in Santa Rosa, New Mexico.  At the campground Ted found they had a small barbeque restaurant so we decided to try it.  As we were walking in a couple were leaving and we asked them how the food was and they said great.  They were right!  I had baby back ribs, Ted had brisket and everything was yummy!  I took these pictures on the way to Santa Rosa and Ted found the Horny Toad right by our truck.  He almost stepped on it as it blends in with the rock as you can see!

We arrived in Texas yesterday afternoon.  We got groceries and I got my nails done, we got the holding tanks emptied and we are ready to head to Palo Duro Canyon State Park this morning!  We will have power and water but not sure if we will have Verizon (or mifi)!  We leave there Wednesday. 

Palo Duro Canyon is the Grand Canyon of Texas, and the second largest canyon in the United States at 120 miles long and 600-800 feet deep.  The canyon was formed less than 1 million years go when the Prairie Dog Town Fork of the Red River carved its way through the Southern High Plains.    The rocks expose a geologic layer revealing a panormic view of magnificent colors.  They believe there were about twelve thousand years of human inhabitation which varied due to periods of abudant moisture or severe drought.

Palo Duro is Spanish for "hard wood" referring to the Juniper trees common in the park, along with mesquite, cottonwood, cedar, willow, soapberry and hackberry trees.  Wildflowers such as sunflowers, daisys, asters and prickly pear cacti are plentiful.  The Battle of Palo Duro or the Red River War was also known as the Buffalo War with the final campaign against Southern Plains Indians from 1874 to 1875.  The canyon has a vast indian history. 

Exploring new areas..."Ain't Life Grand!"

Holbrook, Arizona

We left the river this morning and drove through Flagstaff, Arizona where the temps came down to 68 degrees!  We are east of Flagstaff near the petrofied forrest where it is a VERY windy 85 degrees!  We saw on the news there is a big fire by Flagstaff and that they may close I-40, we are glad to be past there.  By tomorrow we will be in New Mexico!

Less than 100 degree temps..."Ain't Life Grand!"

Hot along the Colorado River!

We drove from Bakersfield to Ft. Mojave or Needles yesterday, not sure which town we are in!  We have a membership campground right on the river.  When we left San Fran it was in the 50's, Bakersfield the 80's and here it's 100 degrees!  From the Pacific Ocean to the Colorado River!  We were still tired from all the partying at the wedding festivities so we decided to spend two nights here.  Our back window faces the river and it is very relaxing.  At 10:00 last night it was still in the 80's!  I took these pictures from inside looking out at our river view. 

Today we went over to the Avi Hotel and Casino.  We had breakfast, gambled a bit and went to see Kung Fu Panda 2 (Ted's choice) in 3-D.  It was very cute.  We liked it as much as the first one.  We left there got some groceries and gas across the river in Arizona ($3.95 per gallon).  We paid $4.19 yesterday in California and it was still $5.00 in Needles!

Tomorrow we leave here heading east toward Texas!

Watching the river rush by..."Ain't Life Grand!"