About Us

Southeast (Gulf Coast), Texas, United States

Sunday, May 24, 2009

Plans Change!!!!

Well, our travel plans for the early summer are going to be modified.  On Tuesday, May 11, my 90 year old mother was scheduled for her regular 4 month interval “throat dilation” associated with a hiatal hernia that she has.  This has been going on for about 18 years without a hitch.  That Tuesday, they discovered that the hernia had gotten big enough that it had to be ‘fixed’. 

We had medical tests done, and met with a lot of doctors, and her surgery was on Monday, May 18.  The surgery went well, but being 90, her recovery is slower than we had hoped for, but the doctors say it is very good, given her age. 

We missed the Lone Star Allegro rally this Memorial Day weekend.  At this point, we would have to hit the road on next Friday night to be at the Spartan Homecoming on June 2 in Charlotte, MI, so, it looks like we will miss that also.  We still plan to travel to Dundee, Ohio for the week-long RV rally sponsored by the IRV2 RV forum, but time will only tell!  When the time comes, we will plan a new route.

We did make a short trip this weekend.  We knew that our friends from the defunct Gulf Coast RV Club, Carolyn and Ralph Valenkamp , were camping at the Lake Texana State Park, about 30 miles from here.  So, I called and told them that we would run by and eat a hamburger with them.  Patsy and I took a break and let my brother and his wife handle the hospital-sitting duties, and we drove over to the park.

We got to the park a little after noon, and it was raining.  However, that did not keep Ralph from honoring his commitment to make the burgers.  He grabbed his umbrella in one hand, and his charcoal lighter in the other, and kept the fire going!  I was a little embarrassed being at a site with the “Aggie” umbrella, but luckily, there was not much traffic with all the rain!!

Here is a picture of Ralph and Carolyn:

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Here’s a couple of shots of the cook:

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Ralph had a nice camp setup, with a screened picnic table where we ate:

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Right before we left, Ralph blew up a small swimming pool for his grandson:   Both Ralph and the little guy were happy with it:

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Hopefully, the next posting will be from the road!!!

Monday, May 4, 2009

Pending Trip…… Updating the Blog

At the middle of this month, Patsy and I are heading out on a 6 – 8 week trip.   We will begin with a Memorial day campout with the Lone Star Allegro group at Lake Livingston in Onalaska, TX.  Then, we will head to Charlotte, Michigan via our daughter’s house in Little Rock, Arkansas, to participate in a Spartan Chassis Owner’s Homecoming event. 

Following that, we plan to enter Canada at Detroit, and travel to Montreal via Toronto.  We will spend 8 days in Canada.

Following that, we will return to the USA and travel to Dundee, Ohio for a week-long RV rally sponsored by the IRV2 rv forum.

I have also been lax in keeping the blog up to date.  It’s just not a lot of fun posting when we are not on an RV trip, but I wanted to get it up to date before we left on the next trip.  Therefore, the following five post will accomplish that………. and it will be updated regularly from now on.

Later………. from the road!!!!

Aubrey’s Cheerleading Award Ceremony

Our granddaughter, Aubrey, has been attending a cheerleading school for the past few months.  The group has competed in several contests, and have done well. A week ago, they had an awards ceremony for the girls.  Aubrey received three awards.  Here are some photos from the dinner and ceremony:

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We were very proud of her.  She behaved very well and sat with the other girls.

Easter Sunday

When we woke up on Sunday morning, the cold front had blown through Rockport, and it was raining.  The Easter bunny managed to hide the eggs in the Bus, and the kids had fun finding them…….

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In addition to finding eggs, they also got gifts….. Balls and some clothes for Matthew, and a lot of clothes for Aubrey…….She likes dresses and dressing up!!

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The rain stopped about 10:00am, and we made preparations to head back to Victoria.  The kids and us had a great Easter weekend.

Easter With Our Grandkids – Fri/Sat!!

The kids were awaiting Mom and Dad on Friday morning, and wanted to go swimming as soon as they got here.  I did not get many photos on Friday, but, I did get some of Matthew in the goggles that his mother brought to him.  He really liked to use them, even though they left red marks on his face!

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On Saturday, we went to the beach at Port Aransas.  The kids enjoyed to ride on the ferry, and were really looking forward to the beach.  It was fairly cold, but they did not notice…….. and did not want us to notice either.  Here are a few pictures of them playing in the sand on the beach……….Easter at Rockport 030

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Even though it was cold, they wanted to get in the water.  Matthew really enjoyed it……….

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Afterwards, we drove back to the campground, and Matthew wanted to get in the pool.  Since it is inside a building, and heated, it was fairly comfortable.  Aubrey was cold from the beach, and did not go in the pool.  Matthew had not only gotten rid of the noodles, by Saturday, he was jumping off the side of the pool!!

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Tomorrow is Easter!!!

Easter With Our Grandkids -- Thursday!

For Easter this year, our DIL decided the kids needed a motorhome trip.  Suspecting that it may be cool, we made reservations at a campground that we had taken the grandkids to last summer, The Lagoons, in Rockport, Texas.

On Thursday before Easter, the day we had planned to leave, Matthews school had decided that his class was going to have an Easter egg hunt in the morning at a local Assisted Living facility, HearthStone, where Patsy’s dad is a resident.   So, our plans ‘flexed’ to picking up Matthew and Aubrey from school at 1:00pm, and then heading to Rockport.  Rick and Laura would drive down on Friday, after she got off work at noon. 

We met Matthew’s class at the rest home, and watched him enjoy meeting the Easter bunny and getting candy filled eggs.  Here are some pictures:

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When we got to the campground, the kids were in a hurry to get into the pool……. they had remembered it!!  Last summer, they got brave enough to just use their floaties on their arms.  Now, they got a little nervous, and opted for the floaties and the floating noodles.  They had a lot of fun, and it did not take long to lose the noodles!!!!

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After a while, we went back to the Bus for lunch, and then we found a playground near the beach.

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The kids had a good day, and wore us out!!

Lone Star Allegro Rally -- Victoria

As was scene in some previous posts, we had visitors, Manuel and Connie Esparza & Mark and Sue Didelot, as guest parked in our driveway.  They were here visiting and waiting for the next weekend’s rally that was held here.  Patsy, Connie, Manuel and I were the hosts for the rally.

Here are some pictures.  One of the members, Jack Bussell, had a birthday, and it was celebrated.  Here is Jack with one of his cakes:

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We spent a lot of time in the rally room, eating, visiting and playing cards:

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The park, here in our home town, is very nice.  It has paved sites and roads, WIFI, and it is well-kept.  The staff was also very nice and helpful.  Here are a couple of pictures of our Bus in our site:

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We all had a pleasant weekend.  To see more pictures, see the Esparza’s blog!  On their blog, you can also look at the April Lone Star Rally held at a KOA in Columbus, TX.  Patsy and I did not make it, because we had a family reunion (Patsy’s family) in Victoria that Saturday.