All Decorated

We finally got the house all decorated (not many presents yet--they need to be wrapped) but while we were dressed up, we decided to take some photos. Notice who Tex worships.

New Bedroom Look

I have been looking for a new comforter for our bedroom for awhile. While out Christmas shopping, I ran across this one--I really liked the colors and so I started shopping for coordinating shams, sheets, pillows, and throws. (As if I didn't already have enough shopping to do!) Finally got it all together! Now at the white sales, I need to look for rugs and towels for the bath.

Carthage Wins State

Last Friday, my hometown team, the Carthage Bulldogs won the state championship in football Class 3A for the first time. We went to the game to meet some of my cousins who arrived on chartered buses. Carthage goes all out for football and almost the whole town traveled up here for the game. We probably had three times as many people as Celina. Carthage played Celina who has won the championship for the last few years, but we took it this year. At the end of the half, we were behind by 4 pts but dominated the second half to win it 49-37. What an exciting game--I haven't been to a Carthage game in 40 years, but it looked so good to see that bright red on the field at Texas Stadium. This was also the last high school playoff game to be held in Texas Stadium---they have had 555 of them over the years. Carthage received trophies from Texas Stadium and the State Championship Trophy.

Ornament Party

Each year I have an ornament exchange for the ladies in my neighborhood. We enjoyed champagne poinsettias and goodies brought by all. We had such fun playing games, eating, and catching up on gossip. Each one brings an ornament for a Chinese exchange. We had a great deal of stealing going on and everyone took home a beautiful ornament.

Jan Miller (above) and Louann Wiggins (below) prepare to steal
the one that they want.


The whole gang.

Christmas Luncheon

Today, some friends and I attended the Royse City Friends of the Library Christmas luncheon. We always enjoy this time to visit so much. Community members decorate the tables with their Christmas dishes, silverware, crystal, and decorations from home. Ana's Catering did the food which was delicious and they have gift baskets that you buy chances on as well as a raffle of baked goods----all to raise money for the library. 2 out of our group of 5 won gift baskets!! I always enjoy seeing old friends from my teaching days in Royse City. What a great day we had!!

!
Frank ( in the hat) decorated the ALL STUD TABLE. Frank and I used to teach 5th grade together---what a character!!!


Our group--Earlene, Jan C, Jan M (my neighbors) and Rosa, a friend from my teaching days.


Rosa and I with one of my neighbors, Sherry, in the background.


Sherry and her sister, Kathy (another neighbor) decorated one of the tables.

Fred's Eye Surgery

We are both so excited especially Fred since his eye surgeries the last two weeks. He has had cataracts for the past year and a half, growing worse all the time. They have to reach a certain point before medicare will pay for the surgery. I was really getting worried about him drving the motorhome since he couldn't read road signs on the last trip. He already had the surgeries scheduled with Dr. W C Herman in Dallas. He had the Resume lens implanted that will allow him to see far off, close up, and intermediate without glasses! They only do one eye at a time and then 5 days later do the other eye. He had the last one done yesterday (Monday) and at his checkup today, he could see 20/20 in the left eye (done last week) and 20/30 in the right eye. It is still swollen and dilated from the surgery yesterday. His eyes will continue to improve over the next month. He is seeing colors so vividly and can see out into the woods again so he is looking forward to hunting again. And all without glasses which he has worn for the last 30 years!!! What a wonderful change!!! Dr. Herman is one of the top eye surgeons and if anyone is needing eye surgery, he is highly recommended by us.

More of Barbados

The beach in front of the hotel.

Afternoon tea by the pool.

Dinner--notice all the silverware for all the courses.

Thanksgiving in Barbados

We went to Barbados for Thanksgiving week with my brother, Sam, and his girlfriend, Dawn. The weather was great and the water was warm. We went sailing on a catamaran, went to the capital, Bridgeport for sightseeing and shopping, went on a tour of the North and East part of the island where there are cliffs with large surf crashing----it was beautiful. At the resort, there were monkeys in the trees. Fred watched one steal a banana from the bar and climb a tree to eat it. We spent part of the day on the beach and the rest by the pool. The island was settled by the British so they have many of the same customs and most of the guests were from the UK. We had tea each afternoon at 4:00 and the foods were like what the Brits eat---not much beef---lots of fish, chicken, and lamb. Many of them ate poached eggs and soft boiled eggs for breakfast. We went for the fried eggs instead.

Girls Night Out

These girls get together each summer and fall and attend musicals in Garland. Just before Thanksgiving, we went to see FOOTLOOSE.
It was great--before, we went to Babe's Chicken Dinner House for some home cooking. We always enjoy that place and have been going ever since we worked together in Royse City. It was a quiet night---only the wait staff dancing to the Hokey Pokey and not once did they do the chicken dance. But we enjoyed ourselves.

Neath the Wreath

In November, my best friend Stacey, her daughter, Meredith, and I attended the Neath the Wreath craft fair in Plano. Meredith is a member of the Plano Junior League and they sponsor this each year. She always invites us to go with her on the first day. We find such wonderful and unusual gifts to buy for others and ourselves. They always joke about me buying all the food gifts but they buy their share, too. I like to have unusual dips and munchies to have for the holidays. This year we were joined by the newest female member, Meredith's new baby, Kenslea (23 days old). Her mother wore her in a wrap and she was the best baby--just wanted to eat every now and then. We enjoyed shopping for her--the cutest girl clothes--we each had to buy her an outfit so she should be dressed in style as soon as she grows a little. Then Meredith suggested a new Italian restaurant over in Allen in the Village---a new shopping district. We had a brushetta platter as an appetizer that was to die for and then some pastas and salads. Of course, we share then all as we usually do. What a great girl outing---we need this every now and then. Then we went over to Meredith's house in Frisco to visit Cade, her 2 yr old son. He is such a cutey. They had some friends drop by with a little girl and it was fun for us to watch them play. Here is Cade and his friend.



Kenslea with her mom--I don't think she was put in her bed the whole time we were there. She just got passed around to all of us who don't have a baby at home to cuddle .

Arboretum

Arboretum

My friend Linda Collier

Dallas Arboretum

We have had such beautiful fall weather----leaves are really turning orange and gold. My friend Linda and I spent a day at the Arboretum where they were having a Pumpkin Fest. They had a house built out of pumpkins, a hay maze, and pumpkins lining the walkways---sooo many pumpkins. We enjoyed watching all the kids play with the pumpkins and hay---brought back lots of memories. For those of you who haven't been to the Arboretum lately, it is really great.

We had lunch at the Cafe in the DeGoyer House----delicious tea sandwiches, muffins, and soup. The scenery was beautiful---of White Rock Lake and downtown Dallas. Afterwards, we went for a drive around White Rock Lake looking at all the remodeled parks and houses. This was a beautiful area. With both of us being from East Texas (Linda is from Longview and I am from Carthage), we both agreed we are so lucky to have ended up in the Dallas area where there are so many great things to do!!!

Girls' Trip: Tuna Does Vegas

Gwen, Linda, Janice, and Rosa

After a few days of unloading, unpacking, and doing TEN LOADS of laundry, I took a break with some of my teacher girlfriends Sunday. We had tickets to see the 4th play in the Tuna series at the Bass Hall in Ft. Worth. For those who don't know, these two are the funniest!!! they are both men but they dress up like several characters from Tuna (a small town in Texas) and share all the gossip that happens in a small town where everybody knows everybody's business. The four plays are Tuna, Tuna Christmas, Red, White, and Tuna, and now Tuna Does Vegas. This one is the funniest to me---I didn't stop laughing all the way through.

Afterwards, we went to Trail Dust to eat steak. We used to go to the one in Mesquite after school for happy hour on Tuesdays several times during the year. We had a great time reminscing about all our fun together and it was great for me to be back with everybody after being on the road so long. I got to catch up on all the news---oh, the Trail Dust in Mesquite closed and the only one is now in Arlington.

End of the Trip

We should be home tomorrow. We drove over 500 miles today to get to Amarillo. We are both homesick--Fred got a stomach virus Fri. night and we had to spend another day in Cheyenne so we cancelled the idea of OK City and headed straight home. We are sitting here eating a Whataburger (our favorite burger that we have not had for 8 weeks!!!) and watching Desperate Housewives at the right time. HOW WONDERFUL WE FEEL!!!.

Traveling is so much fun--we have been to 10 states on this trip and have seen some fantastic sights---the rugged Oregon coast, Olympic NP and the Yakima wine valley of Washington, Redwoods NP of California, Lake Tahoe and Reno, Nevada for mountain drives and gambling, Couer d' Alene to visit friends, Salt Lake City to see Temple Square and all the little things you find along the way and all the great people that you meet. We really live in the greatest country in the world!!! We are so thankful that we have been able to travel these past 9 years in a motorhome and hopefully we will travel many more.

For those of you who think that traveling in a motorhome around the country is troublefree, just take a look at these pictures.

The steps went out the 2nd day on the road even though we had had a new motor put in the week before. We went to a shop but no parts. We ordered parts from factory in AL to be delivered to our friends' home in ID. Then we carried the part to Camping World to be installed but they would not install a part that they did not order. The next place we contacted in WA said they were backed up for a week so we decided to use the ladder and enjoy our trip

While camping in our friends' drive in Idaho, we had a flat tire on the new tire we had put on before we left. The roadside service came to fix it and told us that we needed a new one on the other side. But of course, they didn't have any in stock. (RV tires are specialty tires and not easy to find.) So we drove on to WA and called a Les Swabb tire store. They had them in stock so they put them on and gave us trade-in credit on our practically new tire. We were very impressed with this company as we read the history of the co. inside the waiting room. He sounded a lot like Sam Walton and the Wal-Mart story except as a tire co. and they are only located in the West. Wish we had them. They were so customer oriented and really went out of their way to answer your questions.

Later in the trip, our carbon monoxide alarm went off and made Tex a nervous wreck for several days. We disconnected it and worked on it and finally got it monitoring again.

Then the Washer-Dryer went out with a load of wet clothes inside. The next time I tried, it wouldn't even turn on. Got out the manual but whatever the problem, it is more than I can handle.

Our air bags won't air up properly the first thing in the morning so we start out with a Very Bumpy ride which improves as it all warms up.

A couple of compartment doors on the side (storage compartments) will not open so we have had to make do without the things in those.

Our front windshield now had three cracks from rocks, one of which is spreading and is now about a foot long.

A couple of days, we have had jacks that would not come up--the RV sounds an alarm and the MH will not move when this happens, so Fred has to get underneath and oil them. Some of this may be because of the dust and fine gravel that we have traveled through. But we will have to have them checked along with all the other things. We have an appointment at the factory in AL in February to get things repaired where they will have knowledgeable people and the parts on hand. So we will take it to the shop at home for the steps and get everything else done in Red Bay. We have definitely had more problems on this trip with the MH, but there are always problems just like with a house and we always end our trips with a trip to the shop.

We can't wait to be home again!!!

Temple Square---Salt Lake City

We arrived in Salt Lake City today after driving through the most desolate part of the US that we have seen ---the Great Salt Desert filled with dry salt flats. It started at the Nevada border and we drove for 66 miles with no exits and no nothing. Then we passed the Morton salt plant where they were gathering salt. Then the Great Salt Lake--nothing there either--no vegetation--just flat. It supposedly is 5 times saltier than the ocean. Then Salt Lake City--it is hard to understand why anyone would settle here. But downtown at Temple Square is a different story. It is awe-inspiring to see the beautiful buildings and hear their story. I toured the Tabernacle (where the organist was working on a piece---WHAT A SOUND!!!) and the conference center with some of their missionaries.

This statue of Jesus is in their new visitor center.

Thursday nights, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir rehearses and it is open to the public. What an extra treat to hear them. Stacey, you would have broken out in song when they sang "The Sound of Music". The orchestra has approximately 100 and the choir over 300 members. It is so moving to hear them.

When we left Reno on our way home, we had 1900 miles to home. Now we have 1400. Can't wait to get back to Texas.

Elko and Lamoille Canyon

We stopped in Elko because Fred's mother used to fly here to gamble with her sister and Fred wanted to see it. It was a small town with 5 tiny casinos. We need large casinos so we can have lots of choices on slot machines. (so we maybe can find a winner)

We did go out into the high desert to rock hunt and to see the canyon. It is 12 miles long and is one of Nevada's state scenic byways. It was gorgeous and we spent several hours as we are such rock lovers. (as you can tell by looking at our landscaping) We have collected a Jeep full of new rocks from the states of the Northwest. Today was the best--we should have thrown the others out and just filled the Jeep from this canyon.

Homeward Bound

Today we started our journey home. It has been fun but we are both getting homesick. We drove across Nevada from Reno to Elko. Approximately 300 miles of what you see in the pictures---a valley between mountains in the desert----some very interesting rock formations, very few people or towns but it did have its own beauty. It is what Stacey's son, Collin who lives in Vegas would call a brown world. We saw hot springs steaming up out of the ground and hundreds of sheep being herded---noticeable by all the dust in the air. Elko is where the first gambling was in Nevada. It is in cowboy country and the town looks very old with saloons and bars down main street. They have large silver and gold mines here. There is a great deal of snow on the mountains so we will head out there tomorrow




We saw this sign on the interstate. Wonder what this is all about ???