Thursday, January 17, 2019 - A Little Work, A Little Play

Thursday, January 17, 2019 -  A Little Work, A Little Play

I have started sleeping later in the morning and it's been messing with my morning routine so last night I set the alarm on my phone to get up at 5am.  The problem with this is I was awake on and off between 4:15 and 5:00.  I finally got up at 4:45, started the coffeepot and did my exercises while the coffee perked.  The timing is almost perfect for me to be done by the time the coffee is ready.

I've been trying to spend more time reading my Bible each morning and that is why I wanted to get back to my 5:00 wake up time.  We try to walk between 7:30 and 8:00 each morning, and today was no different.  We got in our 2 miles and managed to walk just a tad bit faster than yesterday.

Other than doing things here and going to the grocery store later today we had no plans, so our goal was to get some projects done.  I started the laundry and Dean finished up two projects for me.   We didn't have anywhere to hang things up that I wanted to have a better way to keep track of; and I wanted it to be a magnetic board.  I found two metal sheets at Hobby Lobby over a year, or two ago.  Originally I thought I would attach them to the freezer doors, but I decided it just wouldn't look good.  We finally decided to paint the metal sheets brown and today Dean hung them on the wall by the coffeepot.  

Our magnetic note board.

I now have the monthly calendar for here in the park attached so we can keep track of the activities, and the bottom will be an area I can showoff our grandkids.  I need to print a few more grandchildren's pictures off and have them made into magnets to add to the collection.

The shelving we bought to hang in the pantry needed something to cushion it so it would not damage the inside of the door, especially when we are on the road.  We used weather stripping and attached it to the back of each of the baskets.  It looks like it will do the trick and I guess time will tell.

My sister Cindy gave me a plaque for Christmas and I finally got it hung up.

I was doing some straightening up on our dining table (used as our desk) and ran across the book that came with my exercise armband (similar to a fitbit).  After looking through it I realized I could set an alarm on my armband to wake me up in the morning, rather than using my phone.  I was able to get that set up - now I just hope it works!

I mentioned recently Dean got a new watch that provided information on golf courses.  He spent time working with it this afternoon to make sure it would function as needed.  He is playing golf tomorrow with Dave so he wanted to be prepared.  

It's been pretty cool and drizzly here the past couple of days so we were glad it warmed up some today.  I went outside and swept all of our "concrete" off.  It was just nice to be outside.

We made a trip to Walmart for groceries.  So far we are doing great on our budget with both groceries and dining out.  Today was the largest amount of groceries we've needed since we arrived, but it was less than I expected.  

Dean grilled chicken tenders and I sauted vegetables for dinner tonight.  It really hit the spot.  We are trying very hard to keep the calories down and get some exercise every day.  My blood pressure is back to normal so something's working.  Once I had the dishes taken care of, I headed to the clubhouse to play Hand, Knee & Foot.  I really enjoy playing and meeting the ladies here in the park.

Our granddaughter Kamron called me after their basketball game tonight to let me know she made 2 points in the game.  She really didn't expect to play since it's a tournament and she's an underclassman.  She was fouled during the game and made both of her free throw shots.  We were really proud of her!  I told her it must be from those good genes - her mama and daddy both played basketball.  Jaxson even talked to me for a few minutes, but he was on his way to bed, so it was a very sparse conversation!  

We had a full day, and getting things done or ticked off your list, always makes it very worthwhile.  We've got all kinds of things planned for the next week or so, so we'll have lots to share and hopefully some pictures as well.

January 3, 2019 - January 16, 2019 -- Enjoying our time in Mission at Val's Kountry Corral

January 3, 2019 - January 16, 2019 -- Enjoying our time in Mission at Val's Kountry Corral

It's hard to believe we've already been here 3-4 days (now 16 days).  We love the new spot we are in.  The down side is we are not right next to our Heartland friends that are just across the fence from the site we had last year, so we can't talk across the fence.  What we do love, is we are not out in the open for the wind to whip around us as bad as it did last year.  We are also in a position to enjoy shade during the afternoon rather than being in the direct sun so it will be much nicer for sitting outside on sunny afternoons.

Doing a little advertisement for The Sawshack Redemption!

Our friends Dave and Nancy made it to the park next door to Val's yesterday so we stopped by to visit with them today.   We haven't seen them since last April at the Heartland rally in Eufala, OK, and it was really nice to catch up with what they've been doing.  Another couple will arrive later today, and at least two more couples will get here toward the latter part of the month.  We look forward to seeing all of them as well.  Dave and Dean are going to try and play golf in the next few days, and Dean is looking forward to it.

After leaving we headed to Walmart to buy a few grocery items.  I was unsuccessful in finding a reamer to use on the oranges Pam brought us yesterday, but I'll find one!  

Dean and I hope to start walking tomorrow.  The temperatures are supposed to start rising and stay in the upper 70's, low 80's.  It sounds great after these cold temps and wind we've had.  Today was fairly calm.

Dean cleaned out the inside of the truck really good and then we took it for a nice wash.  It was just filthy after having set for the past several weeks/month or so.  It sure does look nice now.

Washing the truck!

Tonight I made potato and ham, corn chowder.  It was delicious!  We'll have enough left overs for at least two meals!  Yummm!

We've visited with our new neighbor Larry and his wife Carolyn a few times.  They are from Canada and such a nice couple.  A few days after we arrived we came outside and saw a FOR SALE sign in their front yard.  Dean asked him if he was moving because of us - he said no, it was just time.  We are sad because they were so nice to visit with us last year as well.  We sure hate to see them go.

We drove through an RV resort down the road a few days ago to take pictures for some friends who may be interested in visiting the Valley.  They would prefer to have a park model.  After Larry posted the sign that their park model was for sale I sent info to them on their unit as well.  We'll see!

We were outside one afternoon/evening when a couple stopped and asked us where in Kansas we were from.  They are new to the park and are also from Kansas, near the Lawrence area.  We had a nice visit with them.  

Dean and I started walking on the 7th - walking about 1.5 miles the first 2 or 3 days and finally getting in 2 miles the end of the week.  We are trying to get back into a daily routine.

Saturday the 5th Dean golfed with Dave.  He had a good time.  I love having him here but I do enjoy getting things done while he's out golfing.  So I was a little disappointed when they planned to play golf a few days later, then had to cancel because it was supposed to rain.....and then it didn't rain after all.  I had several things I was going to do.  It's amazing how you can get things done when there isn't anyone else around.  But I'm always glad when he gets home.  He loves his golf and I'm glad he's able to enjoy it while we are here.


Sunday the 6th we met our friends Frank and Joyce at Don-Wes, a large flea market located between Donna, and Weslaco.  Their friends, Karen and John joined us as well.  I found a fruit reamer for the oranges at a little kitchen shop for a pretty decent price.  It had a small glass container attached to it, and it won't take up much space.  Perfect for what we needed it for.  Pam is going to get me some fresh lemons too.  I'm anxious to make some lemonade and I'm going to try and make either a lemon pie or some lemon bars with them.  Yum!  After we finished at Weslaco, we stopped at Cheddar's where the six of us had a nice lunch and visit.  Dean and I headed back to Mission, where we ended up watching TV the rest of the evening.


Monday the 7th we went to visit our friends Corbin and Flora who are also in the park next door to us.  Flora had been under the weather a bit but was feeling better today.  We had a very nice visit and enjoyed some wonderful chocolate chip cookies and peanut butter balls she had made.  Her mother just celebrated her 100th birthday shortly before Christmas.  It was a lovely party and something they'll cherish for many years.



Tuesday the 8th a friend of ours that we met last year while walking/riding our bikes in Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley State Park stopped by while I was at a Bible Study at the clubhouse this morning.  He said we missed the excitement in the state park this morning.  While riding their bikes they heard a helicopter come in and hover over an area of the park.  Shortly, Border Patrol arrived and found six illegals who had crossed the river and were hiding within the park.  The Rio Grande runs along the entire southern edge of the park with no wall, fencing, etc.   

By the way the Bible Study I am attending is over the movie/story called "Tortured for Christ".  The movie was difficult to watch due to the torture of this man and his friends that they suffered due to Russian soldiers in their homeland of Romania.   The Bible study will be led by a couple here in the park during the time we are here. 


On Wednesday, Jan 9, after Dean and Dave's golf game was cancelled I insisted that Dean and I go shopping for some new golf clothes for him.  We stopped at Kohl's where they happened to have a sale on golf clothes!  Yahoo!  We bought a nice pair of lightweight shorts and 3 shirts.  He just bought a new pair of golf shoes and a new watch that gives him the yardage to the golf greens where he plays thanks to Christmas gifts from a couple of the boys.  He hasn't had a chance to try out the watch at a course yet since it came in after he and Dave golfed several days ago.

We also made a stop at Academy but didn't find anything there.  Our next stop was for lunch at Taco Palenque.   Our friends we met in the park last year from Kansas told us about this place and we really like it.  Very affordable and quite good.  


On Thursday the 10th, President Trump visited the Valley.  He was within 13-15 miles from our park.  I would have loved to have gone to see him but there was no way I'd get Dean to drive in the traffic that I'm sure was there that day.   We drove through Hidalgo on our way back from shopping yesterday and that traffic was enough for him.  After we returned I walked to the clubhouse and bought tickets to see Goldwing Express for Monday, Jan 14 here in our park.  We got to see them at Dolly Parton's Stampede in Branson this fall with Misti, Logan and Haleigh.  I thought they were great.  Their dad is going to be with them for this show.  The tickets were only $8 each.

On the way back I stopped to visit with Steve and Diane the couple from the Lawrence, KS area visited us a few days ago.  We are going to try and get together with them for lunch or dinner somewhere soon.  Come to find out Diane is orginally from the Picher/Cardin, OK area - what a small world?  I mentioned we had planned to see Rascal Flatts when we were in Nashville a few years ago, but due to an illness of one of the band members they had to cancel.  I mentioned Joe Don Rooney was from the Picher, OK area.  Small world - Diane grew up and attended school there; and she told us her sister used to babysit for Joe Don when he was just a little guy.  

Frank and Joyce stopped by a short time later.  They are looking at different resorts in the Valley trying to decide if they want to choose a different location than where they are staying this year.  They are currently in the Harlingen area.  We rode with them through Green Gate Grove, Ratama Village and Bentson Park Village - all located on the same road where our park is.  They are all very nice parks.    We were hungry by the time we finished, so we took them to Ranch House Burgers.  Dean and I shared a burger and fries.  The burger was delicious and this year they have added sweet potato fries, which we tried.  I think we'll go back to ordering their homemade fries next time.  The sweet potato fries were cut very thin and they were kind of cold when we got them.  Their homemade fries were much, much better.



Friday, Jan 11 after our morning walk we got ready and headed to Mercedes to the All Valley RV and Outdoor Show.  From what I read in the paper they would have a number of vendors with RV items in their large event center.  We always enjoy taking a look at the RV's on display.  We were not impressed with the vendors as there was only one vendor that had RV items for sale.  While we enjoyed looking through the RV's on display we didn't find anything that we liked better than our Big Horn.

Entrance to the Mercedes Livestock Arena 

After the show we stopped at a Jack-in-the-Box for lunch.  I had found some coupons so we thought we'd give it a try.  We had never ate at one before.  It was just okay and will probably not go on our list of best places for fast food.   Our next stop was at Pharr for the Wood Carving Show taking place there.  Our friends Dennis and Pam are involved in the club putting it on.  Wow is all I can say.  There are some amazingly talented folks in the area.  Here are a few pictures I took.

All of these flowers are made from maple twigs

We made a stop at Sam's and Walmart's on the way back to pick up a few items we needed and then settled in for the evening.

I called UPS to have our mail sent to us today.  It's been a couple of weeks since we picked it up, right before we headed south.



Saturday, Jan 12 I went up to the clubhouse for an activity meeting where they went over all of the scheduled events for the month as well as a few others being planned.  I enjoyed it and visiting with some of the ladies there.  I have signed up for the ladies luncheon for next Friday afternoon, and I also ordered t-shirts with Val's Kountry Corral logo on them for both Dean and I.  There are several things I'm interested in Dean and I doing, or even participating myself if he doesn't want to.  I talked to a lady I thought I played cards with last year and confirmed it was her.  She told me when they played Hand, Knee and Foot, so I plan to join them tomorrow evening at 6:30.  They play Sunday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday evenings.  

The rest of the day I did laundry, some cleaning, and cooking until it was time for the Chiefs game.  We were so happy to see them play such a great game and can't wait to see the playoff game against the Patriots on Sunday the 20th.



Sunday, Jan 13 we headed back to Don-Wes Flea Market.  Dean wanted to buy some of the creme they used on his arm when we were there last week, however we changed our mind once they told him the price.  It was very expensive.  Our friend Joyce had bought some of the magnetic bracelets, necklaces and rings.  She said they were really working for her and their friend John also had good reports from them, so Dean purchased a magnetic bracelet.  We'll see how it works.

We stopped at McAlister's Deli for lunch, Home Depot to find a couple of items to finish some projects I've been working on and then HEB to get just a few groceries.  It was a full day and we were glad to sit down and enjoy a little TV once we returned.

At 6:15 I walked up to the clubhouse and played Hand, Knee & Foot.  I really enjoyed playing and plan to go back when I can.  I returned home about 8:30 - we played two hands.  The first one was really long and the second one went pretty fast.

One of our projects we've added while here in the Valley.  I took some of the things from my shelving in the pantry and placed it in these shelves - now things are not so cluttered and it freed up space I could store my air-fryer in the pantry.

Monday, Jan 14 we did our 2 miles around the park.  I washed a load of clothes.  A little before 2 we walked up to the clubhouse to hear Goldwing Express.  They were great and it was a great 2 hour show.  After dinner, we watched TV.  Pretty slow day.

Goldwing Express had a great show!

2019

Tuesday, Jan 15  I went up for the Bible Study.  Kim who is leading the study, commented she had to go back and look at our picture from last year.  

2018

A gentleman here in the park takes pictures of the people staying at each unit then posts it with our names.  This way we can look to check on names, what unit they are in, etc.  Last week Kim asked me when we had arrived in the park and I told her we got here on the 1st this year, but we were here last year too.  She mentioned she didn't think she had met us, and I told her we were parked almost next to her most of the time (until a trailer moved in beside us for a few weeks).  She was really perplexed.  I told her I looked quite a bit different last year.   What do you think?  Dean hasn't changed much though!



We had an appointment to get the RV and truck washed and waxed today, but since it was raining they cancelled, but rescheduled for Saturday, the 19th.  So, we hopped in the truck and drove to McAllen to the Winter Texan Expo.  There were several booths offering all kinds of information, a number of musical entertainers throughout the day and prizes were given away.  We spent a good two hours there and enjoyed ourselves.  Dean ended up buying a hat declaring him a Winter Texan.  

Foliage around the McAllen Convention Center.

Walkway from the Convention Center to the road and parking lots.

Beautiful trees were in full bloom.

Afterwards we took the back way home to stay off the Interstate, and happened across a Dairy Queen - and the truck just turned into the parking lot!  Lol!  Sure was good!


Wednesday, Jan 16 I did some more laundry and things around the rig, when Joyce sent a text they were getting ready to leave the Texan Expo and wondered if we wanted to meet them for lunch.  We drove to McAllen and ate at Golden Corral.  John and Karen were with them and we all enjoyed our meal and another 1.5 to 2 hours visiting before we left to head back to the park.

I've had several ask if I was still writing the blog, or that they missed reading it so I thought I better get it brought up to date and posted this evening.  I'll try to do better.  😊

Our time is flying by here.  We've already been here just over 1/2 a month.  We have a little over 5 weeks before we will be leaving.  I'm sure we'll have much more to share though before we leave.

January 1 - January 2, 2019 - It's a Brand New Year!

I forgot to add pictures I took at the Buckhorn Saloon and Museum in San Antonio for my blog post yesterday.  Here they are:

Outside of the building

Very real looking!

This is only a small portion of the animals on display

 I thought these were some of the more interesting ones:

of course I had to take this one for Jaxson

A real close encounter with a moose!

An interesting story, even more so since it was in Kansas, too!

The rattlesnake art was fascinating and I included a few of them:

We saw this beautiful sunset as we were going to get our pizza New Year's Eve!

January 1 - January 2, 2019 - It's a Brand New Year!


Tuesday, January 1, 2019 - The Last Leg - Mission, TX Here We Come

Even though I wasn't feeling great, I was anxious to get things packed up so we could get on the road early this morning.  We are both ready to get this last part of the trip over with and to settle for the next couple of months.  We really enjoyed our winter in Mission last year, especially the warmer weather.  Of course having so many friends in the area was great also and we look forward to spending time with them again this year!

We left Braunig Lake Resort in San Antonio a little after 9 and we were checked in and unhooked at Val's Kountry Corral in Mission Texas a few minutes before 2.  What a great day we chose to make this last day of travel - there was hardly any traffic on the road, allowing us make great time even with several stops along the way.

 I took these pictures during the last 80 miles of our drive today.

Best part of the day..... it was 62 degrees when we arrived, even though it was overcast, it was nice outside.

Within a few minutes of getting parked we had neighbors walking over to say hello or to introduce themselves.  Before I knew it I had bought this neat little carving of Kansas that the neighbor behind us makes.  

I took my time setting everything up inside and Dean worked outside getting the Dish set out, hooking up the water and taking the bicycles off the ladder.  Our steps will not unfold completely, so we are going to have to get a board cut to fit on top of the last step so we do not trip on it while we are here.  We could easily trip if we aren't paying attention so we need to do it soon.

I wanted to get some distilled water, so once we had everything set up inside we went up the road to Dollar General - and there was none on their shelves.  We ended up driving to HEB.  I waited outside while Dean went in to get it.  When we returned to the park, we ate the last of the pizza and wings left over from Pizza Hut last night.  It still tasted great tonight and one more night of not cooking!

We enjoyed just relaxing and watching TV the rest of the evening.



January 2, 2019 - Getting Things Done and A New Member of the Family is Added!

Our first full day here and it decides to rain - not hard, just drizzle and it's cold compared to the nice warm afternoon we enjoyed after we arrived yesterday.  It wasn't too bad walking to the office in my rain coat though.  The office was closed when we arrived yesterday so I needed to take care of our account this morning.  Irene who works in the office, arrived shortly after me.  It didn't take long to get everything squared away.  While I was there I picked up one of the Winter Texan weekly papers to read later.  It lists all of the activities being held at various RV resorts in the Rio Grande Valley area, as well other activities in the area.  There is so much available to do here.

The first day of the month (or like today, the 2nd, since the banks were not open yesterday) Dean likes to get all of our bills paid and the bank account updated so he spent most of the day working on that.  He also makes a spreadsheet that he uses each year, and he needed to make a new one for 2019.  Between the two it took up a good part of the day, while I worked on getting the blog up to date.

We ran over to our friends Pam and Dennis' for awhile this morning to say hello and had a really nice visit with them.  Later Pam brought us some oranges Dennis picked from their tree.  

She told us they are great for juice.  I need to get a reamer so we can enjoy fresh orange juice with our breakfast.

I feel so much better today and I think I've pretty much knocked this cold.  I now think it might have been allergies rather than a cold.  I think there is something here that bothers me.  Once we arrived here in Mission I remembered the same thing happened last year about the time we arrived.

Matt & Megan gave us an Alexa Echo for Christmas.  Once Dean had finished all of his bookkeeping duties, we got it out to try and set it up.  One of our grandkids should have been here as I'm sure the setup would have gone much faster than what it took us to get Alexa to finally talk to us.  It will take a little while to get used to asking her questions, and remembering to tell her to add an item to my grocery list (which immediately shows up on the app on my phone) or to my to-do list (which may be the best thing ever to help me remember something I want to do).  Once we are accustomed to the newest member of our family, I think we might really enjoy having Alexa around.

Another thing I thought was pretty neat:  Dean said, Alexa play some music.  Alexa responded, Since you like Christian music we thought you would enjoy this song.  I don't know who sings it or the name of the song but it was beautiful and it was pretty cool she knew what music I preferred.  Of course, that's probably because I have a lot of Christian music saved on my Amazon music app.

While Dean continued to read the instructions to figure out how to fully utilize Alexa I made dinner.

It was a very productive day and since it was rainy we didn't even mind being inside since it gave us a chance to get all of these things done here at Bentley today, so we can enjoy doing something fun when the weather turns nice (70's +) later this week.

Friday - December 21 to Monday - December 31, 2018 - A Busy, Busy Last Few Days of December

December 21 - December 31, 2018 - A Busy, Busy Last Few Days of December



Friday - December 21, 2018


I left early this morning to pick grandson Jaxson up to spend the day with us.  After loading him and and a few of his toys in the truck, we headed to Daylight Donuts - he loves donut holes; and then I made a quick stop at McDonald's for a bacon, cheese, and egg biscuit and caramel frappe for me!  Our RV dealer, Deryl was going to arrive at Bentley around 8:00 this morning to work on the RV, so we stopped at my sister Cindy's to visit for a little bit after we returned to Oswego.  It's a small place to have an active 6 year old inside while someone is working in the rig!  

Deryl got the panel and new remote control for our RV working pretty quickly this morning.  They sent the wrong part the first time and the second one did not work but finally the third time really was a charm!

We had a great day with Jaxson.  He's a lot of fun and I learn so much from him about planets, tsunamis, dinosaurs, etc.


Saturday, December 22, 2018 


Cindy called this morning to let me know my stepdad, Larry, had fallen early this morning.  He broke his hip at the rehab center where he was recovering after his stay in the hospital. They took him by ambulance to Freeman and Verna told her they will do surgery tomorrow morning.  He's had a rough year.  Larry's daughter (and our step-sister)Terry, was with Verna at the hospital.


Dean went to Brett's this morning.  He is using his shop and some of his tools to make a platform for the new satellite dish.  He will be able to attach it to the ladder on the back of Bentley or to the hitch in front allowing him to keep it off the ground most of the time.  The one he made for the Tailgator is too small for the Winegard Pathway we recently purchased.  

Cindy and I decided to run to Joplin.  She needed to return something to Kohl's and I needed to as well.  Since I had a coupon for 30% off and I'm looking for some exercise/yoga pants it seemed like a great place to start looking.  I hit the jackpot, finding two pairs of pants that I really liked.  We made a couple of other stops before heading back to Oswego.  

When Dean and I decided to sell our house and go full-time in Bentley we knew it would be for about 4-5 years and then we would either find a house to buy, or some property to build a house on.  We've continually talked about it and where it should be - Oswego, Labette County or somewhere in Oklahoma.  We recently saw a house for sale that we thought might work for us and I happened to mention it to my sister today.  We drove by it when we returned from Joplin.  Even though I had misgivings on some things, there were several pluses too.  We went back to Bentley where I showed her pictures online.  While we were discussing it, she told me about a lot that was for sale that has a garage on it.   We took a ride so I could see where she was talking about.  I fell in love with it and couldn't wait for Dean to get home so I could tell him about it.

Almost as soon as Dean returned I told him about the property.   We drove by so he could see it, and he felt the same way I did.  It was a great place and it already has a garage on the property.  I called the owner but had to leave a message.  We are hoping we can look at it before we leave for Texas.




Sunday, December 23, 2018


I texted Verna this morning to let her know I was thinking of her and Larry and praying for him as he goes to surgery this morning.  She responded they were prepping him for surgery.  Jody, Cindy and I are going to the hospital after church today.  Originally we had planned to go to my Aunt's today but we cancelled since she wasn't feeling well this morning.

I was able to visit with the owner of the property that we looked at yesterday this morning.  We are meeting them to look at it sometime after 3 this afternoon.  Woo-hoo! 

I went to church with Cindy again this morning so we could leave right after church.  We picked up Jody and headed out.  When we arrived at the hospital, Larry's two oldest girls, Tammy, her husband Nic and Terry were there visiting.  Larry was awake and seemed to be doing well after such a rough couple of days.  We all had a good visit before Tammy, Nic and Terry left.  We stayed awhile longer before heading back to Oswego.  

After we got home, Dean and I met the owner to look at the property.  We first looked inside and outside of the garage and it is perfect for storage as well as a workshop for Dean.  He's over the moon at the idea of having a shop to work in when we are in Oswego.  I am thrilled about that too.  He sometimes gets bored when we are in Oswego if he can't play golf and we don't have anything else to do.  He always had some project to work on at our sticks and bricks house.  Having this property would give him something to do when we in Oswego until we decide to build.

We need to check on a couple of questions we have about the property.  Once we get the answers, we'll get back with them, hopefully next week.



Monday, December 24, 2018


We originally planned to leave for Texas the day after Christmas but we've decided to wait until Thursday, the 27th.  It will work better with the weather forecast since it's supposed to be pretty nice on Thursday.  We need to take some things from Bentley to the storage shed and get a few things to take with us, so now we won't be so rushed since we'll have an extra day.

I made some vegetable soup today.  It was soooo good!  I froze two containers and we'll eat the left overs in the refrigerator over the next few days.

After dinner Dean and I went to Cindy (my sister) and Elmer's to play pitch.  We had a great time.  The guys won two of the first three games, and I can't remember who won the fourth game but it doesn't make any difference - laughing at ourselves made for a fun evening!   



Tuesday, December 25, 2018


I was up at 4:30 this morning.  I made cornbread for the dressing I'll assemble later this morning.  Matt is going to call us at 6:00 (our time).  It wasn't long until we were watching Josh and Sarah open their presents from us.  Sam didn't seem too excited, but at 7 months he was more interested in crawling around and checking out everything that was going on - all new adventures for him.  

Sam - enjoying all of the paper and ignoring his present!

Josh opening his gifts

Sarah telling us something.  She loves to get right up to the phone to talk to us and we love it!

We left Oswego at 7:30 and headed to Marc and Jen's to watch Kamron and Jaxson open their presents from us as well as from their cousin gift exchange they were not able to attend in Wichita.  They loved their presents and Jaxson was especially thrilled with his Neptune shirt and some books from Josh, one about Neptune and the other about all kinds of science info.  He just stopped and stared at them with a big grin on his face!  Neptune is his favorite planet!  Jen fixed a wonderful breakfast casserole, along with fruit, bacon and juice.  It was delicious.  We had a great visit with them before heading back to Oswego.

Kamron watching Jaxson opening his presents.

I had to share Marc & Jen's tree.  I love the tree topper! (not the deer, the cowgirl hat!)

We stopped at the Truck Stop on 59 Highway to get some milk and while we were there we called Heath to see if their kids were ready to open their presents from us so we could watch them as well.  Abram went first, then Gideon - who after he opened his said - this is girl's stuff!     (WHOOPS!  I had Emerson's present in his bag - so we need to let Jarred know not to let Emerson open her present from us yet).  Roman opened his last.  

Abram, Roman and Gideon 

We called Jarred right away to let him know about the mixup.  He said he would get with Heath to straighten the presents out - fortunately they don't live too far from each other.  At least it wasn't mixed up with the kids in New York!!!!  I felt really bad about the error though.  I know it was disappointing for Gideon.

We stopped at Bentley to pick up the food items I needed to take to Misti's, then we headed to her house.  We had a wonderful lunch about 12 or so.  Ham, mashed potatoes and gravy, dressing, green bean casserole and rolls.  It was all delicious.  It was great getting to spend  more time with Logan while he was home too.  I bought a Christmas puzzle while we were in Parsons yesterday and we spent part of the morning working on it until dinner, and afterwards until we had to leave around 2.  Misti and I used to put a Christmas puzzle together every Christmas until a few years ago when it just got too busy to try and find a place to put it without it being in the way, with a house full of family.  It was fun to do this again this year.  We may have to find a place to do this and bring it back for future Christmas' when we are all together.

Haleigh

Logan

We left Misti's around 3 for our last stop at Brett's to have Christmas with him and our grandkids Dacy and Tucker.  They opened their gifts from us.  Then we enjoyed visiting with and hearing about what else they got for Christmas before heading back to Oswego.  We had originally planned to go back to Misti's for supper but we were both so tired by the time we got back we came on home.  We've got another full day planned for tomorrow.

Later in the evening, Gideon called so he could open his present from us while we watched and he was very happy with what he got.  Not too long after that Jarred called, and we got to watch Emerson open her present as well.  What a great day - spending time with all of the kids and grandkids even if some of it was "online".   At times like this, technology really is wonderful!



Wednesday, December 26, 2018


I had to make a call this morning to get some information on the lot we are interested in purchasing and fortunately we received good news so I let the owner's know we wanted to move forward with the purchase.  

We headed to Pittsburg to pick up our mail.  We had two packages, our prescriptions and a stack of cards and letters.  From there we went to Joplin to see Larry.  He was doing pretty good today.  He was sitting up in a chair eating lunch but it was clear he wasn't too impressed with what they served him.  We had a nice visit before we left for home.  

On the way back, I asked Dean if he would mind stopping in Chetopa to see my Uncle RIchard (my mom's brother) and he agreed.  We had a good visit with him and his wife Joyce.  I had hoped to get together with them before we left but we've both been busy and had not found the time to do that.

Once we got back we still needed to do the paperwork in order to purchase the land we looked at last week.  We got it all finalized and we now own property!  

We went to Misti's a little before 5 to have dinner (leftovers from Christmas lunch) and to spend some more time with her, Haleigh and Logan before we head out in the morning.  



Thursday, December 27, 2018


We were up and around early this morning as we still have a lot of things to do before we leave.  First thing was to send a birthday text to my niece - Nikki - who made me an aunt for the first time.  

Dean took our propane tanks to be filled and stopped at the golf course to get his golf clubs.  When he returned, he started getting Bentley ready and I left to run a few errands.  I wanted to stop and see my Aunt before we left and I needed to run by Cindy's and the grocery store.  We still needed to take a few things to the storage shed and pick up a few things there (always something last minute, right?).  It was almost 10:30 before we pulled out of Hillside RV park, headed south.

South of Vinita just before we got on I-44.

Somewhere near Tulsa - the wind was really blowing today.

Taken near Winstar Casino this evening.

Our drive went well but it was a long day to Thackerville, OK where we spent the night at the Winstar Casino RV Park.  They had a special rate for the first night due to the holidays - $20!  

After dinner, we rested and discussed how far we would travel tomorrow.  We decided we'll see how we feel in the morning.



Friday, December 28, 2018


Today we celebrate two special birthdays - my Aunt Lil's and our grandson Roman's.  I sent Aunt Lil a text message before we left this morning.  Later we called our daughter-in-law Casey to see what would be a good time to call Roman.  His birthday slipped up on us with all we've had going on.  We forgot to get him a present.  We wished him a happy birthday and told him we'd be sending his present to him and it should arrive in a few days. 

Scenery on Hwy 281 between Thackerville, OK and San Antonio, TX

We went back and forth whether we should try to travel all the way to San Antonio today or stop somewhere else for the night.  We finally bit the bullet and made it all the way to SA, arriving around 4:30.  It was a long driving day for us but we are glad we decided to do it all today.  We'll have four days here and I'm glad as I started coming down with a head cold.  Ugh!

We had the last of the vegetable stew I made recently.  It tasted really good to me with this cold!



Saturday, December 29, 2018


When Dean was at Co-op in Oswego Wednesday morning, my cousin Randy and another guy told him we should go see the Buckhorn Museum and Saloon in downtown San Antonio while we were there.  Dean was really interested after they told him about it, so I got online this morning and ordered tickets for us.  

We picked out what sounded like an awesome place to eat breakfast, only to find it had closed.  Fortunately, there was a Cracker Barrel just a few blocks away.  After breakfast we made our way downtown, arriving about 9:30 where we spent over 2 hours in the museum.  It really was very interesting and I took a "few" pictures to share with you.



We walked some of the Riverwalk, just a block away, but my legs were cramping a bit and I just wasn't feeling great with this cold coming on.  The thing I hate about traveling long days, and only staying one night before moving on, I do not drink enough fluids.  It's not good and I think I'm reaping what I sowed.  Dean was ready to leave anyway - and we've been on the Riverwalk several times.  Once he's seen it, that's usually enough for him!  I didn't argue a bit today.



Sunday, December 30, 2018


Today I did a thorough dusting in Bentley and he really needed it.  Probably not the best thing to do with a head cold - as I'm allergic to dust.  Ugh!   Yep, I think that just made it worse, but I had put off a good cleaning for too long and I wanted it done before we moved.  I know once we get to Texas we'll get busy.

Then, of course, I had to run the vacuum and wash a few loads of laundry.

I put a pork roast in the Instapot for dinner.  It was sure good and we have enough left overs for at least two more meals.  Fortunately, we both love leftovers.




Monday, December 31, 2018


Today I continued with cleaning.  It felt good (for my mind) to get it out of the way even though my body didn't feel quite so good about it.  My head cold is really wearing on me.  I had planned to fix something with the leftover pork roast but Dean offered to get something we could bring back here to eat, and I was all for that.  Ned's Pizza is located just outside of the RV Park.  I called the number I found on the internet, but no one answered.  We drove over and sure enough it was closed, so we called a nearby Pizza Hut.  By the time we ordered it, and drove there to pick it up, we only had to wait a few minutes until it was ready.  We brought it back here and it was sooo good, especially since I didn't have to fix it and cleanup was very easy!

New Year's Eve, and I was in bed before 8pm.  I took some Nighttime, laid down and I was out.    

What a way to welcome in 2019!