Hill Country Sojourn

Well, it's now Friday, March 22, 2013.  Yesterday, we got settled in at Peach Country RV Park in Stonewall, TX.  We had planned to stay again at Fredericksburg RV Park where we stayed for a few days last spring, but they were booked through the end of March, so we headed for Peach Country where our Class of ’07 friends, Greg & Jean, usually spent each spring.  It's a little further to go shopping & sightseeing in Fredericksburg but it worked out fine.

The Alaska gang started arriving in Texas on Saturday, March 23.  Curt & Diane flew in to San Antonio from Washington and Steve & Mary drove down from Missouri. We stayed at the condo in New Braunfels through Sunday, March 31.  Never a dull moment with this group of long-time friends and this year was no exception!

We went shopping/browsing...

...had fabulous meals at the condo...

 ...went to Luckenbach...

...toured the Garrison Bros. Distillery (note the signs - it will give you some idea of how fun the tour was!)...

 ...toured the Texas State Capitol in Austin which was built in 1888...

 ...had a fun girls' shopping day

 ...and, of course, ate a couple of times at our favorite restaurant in that area, the Gristmill, which overlooks the Guadalupe River.

And, every year we make sure to take girls and guys group photos!

Our last little tour for this year was to the LBJ Ranch.  There's a nice driving tour of the school, LBJ's birthplace, the family cemetery and, of course, the Texas White House.  I think everyone especially enjoyed the show barn where national park rangers now explain the continuing cattle operation.  Diane especially enjoyed the baby goats!

Soon after the Alaska gang all went back home, we had some more company: friends Dick & Karin brought their 5^th wheel over from Victoria TX for a couple weeks.  We had worked with Dick & Karin at Magic Valley for a couple of winters and have stayed good friends.  We enjoyed lots of day trips to places like the Wimberley Market on Saturday, April 6 (where we were joined by San Antonio cousins, Rick & Judy) and Enchanted Rock State Park on Sunday, April 7, 

Perdenales Falls State Park on Monday, April 8, 

Wildflower Ridge Alpacas on Thursday, April 11, 

Karin & her new bud!

and on Friday, April 12, we visited Becker Vineyards, Wildseed Farms (my very favorite place to photograph flowers) and the Sauer Beckmann Living History Farm (which features German-Texan farm life from 1915-1918).
Old homestead at Becker Vineyards.
Love this picture of Karin and Bailey!

I could spend days every spring at Wildseed Farms!

 The next three photos are at Sauer Beckmann Living History Farm:

And on Saturday, April 13, we headed over to world-famous Luckenbach for a day of live music.  

















The four of us met up with some of our Class of '07 buds: Trish, Greg & Jean, Fay, Hank and Brenda.  

Had a blast - especially when Fay won the Chicken Shit Bingo contest!!

 She's a rich girl now:)

Tuesday, April 16: Went to Pioneer Village and Town Square in Fredericksburg and then back to Wildseed Farms just east of town.  We toured a "Sunday House" (built in the 1890's to 1920's by families who lived far out of town for their use on weekends when they came in for shopping and church services),

a school (can't you just see him as a 3rd grader???),   

barn,

 bathhouse,

 and a smokehouse.
And, I'll try not to bore you with more flower pictures from Wildseed Farms...except this one!

 Saturday, April 20, 2013: Dick, Karin & Bailey have gone home and it's time for us to hit the road again...So long, hill country, till next time!

Settled in for the Winter in South Texas

(Real-Time Note on 6/8/2015: Well, as you may have noticed, I have severely neglected this blog for a REALLY long time now.  To be honest, it is now closing in on the summer of 2015…  Embarrassing, but c’est la vie!  So, as I have done before (but not always admitted), I will be reconstructing our past adventures and will back-date the posts.  Even if no one but me reads these, it’s OK: I enjoy looking back at all the fun we’ve had as retirees on the road!)

So, after arriving in Weslaco TX yesterday (Wednesday, December 5, 2012), we began our winter in “the valley”.  I kept very busy this winter assisting with the picture book that is produced every other year for Magic Valley residents.  I had a great time taking pictures of all the groups and activities and - other than assisting with the process of signing up and checking in all the residents for their formal portraits - I was primarily responsible for creating the activity pages for the books.  Fun, but kept me pretty busy…  And, of course, that meant that John didn’t feel guilty at all (does he ever?) going golfing several times a week with his buds, Tony, Fred and the two Bills.

On Tuesday, December 18, we went to see the Christmas lights in Hidalgo again.

Our oldest son, Eric, popped in for a short visit on Wednesday, December 19 and left on Thursday, December 20.  Always wonderful to see our kids!

Christmas found us celebrating with John’s sister Jane and her family, husband Tony, his parents Cornie & Maybelle, and our nephew Jeremy & his wife Dawn.

John says “Merry Christmas” to all of you!

Later that afternoon we converged on the park hall for the annual Christmas dinner with another couple hundred folks!  Fun time and wonderful food, as usualJ

 It’s a new year!  2013.  Wow…Seems like just yesterday when my workplace was worried about the computer switch to 2000.  How time flies when you’re having fun!  Our annual block party New Year’s Day brunch was wonderful, too.

We’ve sure enjoyed this group of folks as we’ve become better acquainted over the past few years.  We have block party happy hours every couple weeks all winter long and always have fun!

On Wednesday, January 2, we headed up to San Antonio for John’s hearing aid check-up at the VA.  With a five hour one-way drive, we opted to stay overnight there…  And, we did the same thing (only two nights this time) on Friday, January 25 for another routine medical appointment and to pick up his new hearing aids.

Part of our plan for spending one more winter in south Texas was to do a few more of the touristy things that we hadn’t yet done.  While we didn’t get to everything on our list, we did manage to go to the Museum of South Texas History on Thursday, February 7. 

 

It was pretty good, too – artifacts clear back to prehistoric days...

...and the original Native Americans...

...to the early 1500's when the first Europeans probably discovered the Texas coast.  

They even included some interactive displays which I couldn’t resist donning!

All in all, a fun day!

Tuesday, February 26: back in San Antonio for John’s eye appointment and new glasses.

On Saturday, March 9, we were in San Antonio at North Park Lincoln for a service appointment for the car.

Thursday, March 21: Finished packing up the rig and headed for the hill country at around 9:30 a.m.  Got our 2^nd annual Alaska gang reunion coming up!

Slowly moving down to the RGV

I arrived back to San Antonio on Sunday, November 18th.  John survived my absence in style: ate out often and picked up a new set of golf clubs for his birthday!  I do believe he’s looking forward to a winter of golfing with Tony, Bill, Fred & Bill…

Late afternoon found us moving across town to Iron Horse RV Service for our appointment tomorrow so that we can get the car set up for towing.  The poor technician had a pretty hard time removing grills and cutting into a brand new car!  They also checked out our “smoky” generator and installed a new AC breaker.  The whole process took a couple of days and on Wednesday morning, November 21st, we moved back to Admiralty.

John ate out again without me on Thanksgiving: the RV park had a potluck, but I wasn’t feeling too good so he went alone.

We spent the next week doing odds ‘n ends, including John’s VA appointment and even went to a movie.  And, washed the car a couple of times.  It just doesn’t do to have a dirty new car!

On Friday, November 29, we drove across town to see John’s dad’s 1974 Airstream trailer that we had sold earlier this year and to give them the Airstream book that we had bought for John’s dad years ago.  Wow!!  It’s really shiny now!

 

The folks who bought it are really enjoying fixing it up and using it.  It’s always nice to have something like that go to someone who appreciates it.

Afterwards, we wandered down to the Riverwalk to see the Christmas lights.  Beautiful! 

They drape what looks like zillions of lights all over the trees.  The picture isn’t very good but it really is pretty.

Even the Alamo was lit up.

We had a nice leisurely dinner while listening to some Junior High choirs and then headed home.

On Saturday, December 1, we enjoyed a yummy burger place with John’s cousin, Judy & husband, Rick.  On December 2nd, we drove over to Victoria for an overnight visit with RGV friends, Dick & Karin.  And, on Tuesday, December 4, we drove up to Cabela’s in Buda for a quick lunch with our friend, Merle and his new wife, Jan.  (Merle is the guy that we travelled back from Alaska with in September 2008.)  I’ve probably said this several times before, but one of the neatest things about this unusual lifestyle of ours is that we get to see far-flung friends and family lots oftener!

Wednesday December 5: time to travel to Weslaco for what will probably be our last winter in the RGV for at least awhile.  We no longer have the family responsibilities there and it’s getting time to get back to our original travel plan…  So, after a quick trip to the VA for one last appointment, we headed out at 11:45 and arrived at Magic Valley a bit after 5:10 p.m. – 260 miles and now it’s time to settle in for the winter!

Kids Again for Mom’s Birthday

Last summer, my brother Mike had the idea to celebrate our Mom’s 80th birthday with all of the six kids in Alaska (we’re scattered out between Alaska, Oregon, Kansas and wherever I happen to be).  Our Dad’s 80th birthday had been celebrated during a family reunion at Priest Lake, Idaho in 2010, so this seemed like a great idea!

Besides, Mom and Dad had for some time been talking about some of their ideas and wishes for future planning now that they were in their “Golden Years” and they really wanted to have a chance to discuss this kind of stuff with their six kids.

So on Saturday, November 10th, the out-of-towners descended on Wasilla, Alaska although brother Jon ran into flight delays in Kansas and didn’t actually arrive for several days.  The female family members who lived up there – sister Deb, sister-in-law Alana, niece Danae and daughter-in-law Kari – had all been busy planning the big birthday party for Sunday, the 11th.  We had a fun time with a gorgeous cake, fun decorations and lots of yummy food!  Thanks, gals!!!

The rest of the week was spent reminiscing and helping Mom & Dad with some household projects, including installing a new dishwasher and some computer work.

One evening was set aside for the “big” family discussion.  This was the first time we could remember having just the eight of us together since we were all adults and it was a truly amazing experience to feel the years fall away and be just the “kids” again!  Mike did an outstanding job of keeping the discussion on track and I believe it was very helpful to Mom & Dad to be able to express their ideas and wishes and also to hear our reactions.  We highly recommend that all families try to do this and we are certainly hopeful that this discussion will smooth the way for all of us as the years go by and we need to deal with changes/crises/etc.

The three brothers from out of town stayed at Mom & Dad’s and I stayed at Eric & Kari’s (sister Deb’s upstairs) so I got lots of grandson time!  Also got to take them Christmas shopping while I was there – wish John & I could do that every year…

On late Saturday night, November 17th, brothers Jon and Tim and I headed for the airport, dropped off the rental car and one by one, flew back home.  Mike had left a couple of days before as he had work commitments.  A wonderful time with my family…

Crossing Texas

Sunday morning, November 4, time to head east…  We left Benson a little before 9:00 a.m. and crossed the New Mexico border at 10:50 and crossed into Texas at 2:00 p.m.  We traveled about 260 miles and called it a day at 2:30 stopping at American RV Park near El Paso.  The campground wasn’t much more than a gravel lot, but it worked for an overnighter.

The next morning, Monday, November 5, we headed out a little after 9:00 a.m. and ventured 308 miles before stopping for the night at a rest stop near Iraan, TX at a bit before 5:00 p.m.  We’re in the mode…  Drive, eat & sleep!

Time to drive again: 8:15 a.m. on Tuesday, November 6.  263 miles later, we finally got across west Texas, arriving at Admiralty RV Resort in San Antonio at 1:30 p.m.  Time to settle down for awhile!  Neither of us felt like cooking, so we moseyed over to Schlotzky’s for sandwiches.  Can’t remember the last time we ate at a Scholtzky’s…

We spent the next few days running errands and doing a little shopping in preparation for Lora’s upcoming trip to Alaska.  And the shopping culminated on Thursday, November 8 in a big way!!  We FINALLY found the car we’d been looking for for who knows how long!  We had researched small sedans for ease of towing (don’t want to have to pull a fuse anymore), size (wanted something similar to the Cobalt but hopefully a little more comfortable), and mileage (we weren’t willing to lower our mpg and the Cobalt did pretty good).  We had looked at the Lincoln MKZ in Iowa, Washington and at least two other states, but either they didn’t have a hybrid in stock or they only had dark colors.  Since we spend the majority of our time in warm climes, we really wanted a light color – inside and out.  We had planned to wait and see what the new model 2013 looked like, but the deal South Park Lincoln in San Antonio offered us on a 2012 was too good to pass up!  Right color and it even has heated AND cooled front seats  Love this car!

We took possession today, Friday, November 9 and on Saturday, November 10, John will drive me to the airport for my flight to Alaska.  Hate to leave that brand new car, but family beckons!  All five of my siblings are planning to converge in Wasilla to celebrate our mom’s 80th birthday and have a chance to sit down all together to discuss our parents’ plans and ideas for the future.  Besides, I get to see Eric and Kari and two of our grandsons, Jacob & Jonah!

Arizona Adventures

After arriving in Casa Grande, Arizona yesterday, Thursday, October 18 and settling in at Rover’s Roost SKP Park, we got haircuts and picked up some groceries the next day before heading up to the Phoenix airport to pick up our friends from Washington state, Curt & Diane.  They flew down for a long weekend to celebrate their anniversary and we had a fabulous time taking 5th wheel shopping trips to Tucson and even north to Camp Verde.  Even got to see this tarantula at the campground!  Scary, huh?

On Tuesday, October 23rd, the four of us drove about 30 miles away from the campground to see Casa Grande Ruins National Monument.  This four story building from the early 1300s is the largest known structure of the Ancestral People of the Sonoran Desert. 

The walls face exactly north, south, east and west and there are openings that align with solstice sunsets and sun or moon at other times. 

Curt & Diane!
It’s always fascinating to get a glimpse – however brief – of other cultures.
On Wednesday, October 24th, John & I packed up and left Rover’s Roost at 10:45 am and arrived at LazyDays RV Park in south Tucson several hours later.  A few days earlier when we were 5th wheel shopping with Curt & Diane at LazyDays, the dealership gave us a camping coupon so we decided to check them out.  Nice park with lots of fruit trees!
We spent most of our week in Tucson visiting good friends from Iowa and doing housekeeping chores but did find time to tour Biosphere 2 near Oracle (north of Tucson) on Friday, October 26th.  This amazing facility was where the eight “Biospherians” were sealed in for two years in the early 1990s to find out if people could live totally enclosed in a large glass “bubble”.  It is now operated by the University of Arizona and is being used to study ecosystem processes under controlled conditions.  It is quite fascinating!
Saturday, November 3 – Time to leave LazyDays and mosey on down the road to Benson, AZ to visit RVing friends Bob & BarbAnna at Cochise Terrace RV Park.  We had a fun dinner out with them – thanks, B&B!
The view from our campsite was pretty cool!

Tomorrow we head on east, but had our usual fun time in Arizona!

Aiming for Arizona

Tuesday, October 16: A longer than usual travel day – 335 miles to Banning, California.

We decided there must be a holiday coming when we saw this huge inflatable pumpkin on a hillside…

 

We pulled in to the Banning Stagecoach KOA at about 4:00 pm and got settled in for a couple of days.  Pretty quiet and peaceful here.

Wednesday, October 17 – time to go exploring in a new area!  Joshua Tree has been a national park only since 1994, but was a national monument since 1936.  It encompasses 1,234 square miles that we’d never before seen.  After driving nearly 50 miles toward the west entrance, we stopped at the Joshua Tree Visitor Center (always our first stop at a national park!) and enjoyed the current photo display and picked up some maps.

Not exactly like the forests we’re accustomed to!

Lunch time found us at the Hidden Valley picnic area where this little chipmunk kept us well entertained!

And, the view from our picnic table wasn’t too bad either…

After eating, we headed over to the trailhead for the Hidden Valley Trail.  A fairly easy 1-mile loop, this area was reputed to be where cattle rustlers took stolen livestock to re-brand.  Easy to see why: the only apparent entrance to this area was a very narrow trail between pretty large rocks.  Not sure how anyone ever found it to begin with!  This is the entrance…

We enjoyed watching the rock climbers, too.

The whole area was encircled with pretty cool rock formations.

We even discovered a little baby Joshua tree!

We thought this “Indian Warrior Rock” was pretty cool, too!

All in all, a fun day in another of our wonderful national parks!

On Thursday, October 18th, we headed out of the campground at 8:15 am (early for us!) and crossed in to Arizona three hours later – our 14th state line crossing this year!