Thanksgiving Dinner at this RV resort

We work at this resort on Monday through Wednesday and have the rest of the week off. This week, Thursday was Thanksgiving, and we have a wonderful tradition of offering dinner for all of the guests at the resort who would like to share in it. Of course, that means getting ready. Tables and chairs have to be set up, the place decorated, and the food organized and cooked. That seems like an impossible task when you begin to realize that 350 -400 people are coming to dinner. Don is our boss/manager/owner, and he loves to cook and plan these huge parties.

By Wednesday we had the Guadalupe Pavilion ready to go, all the while checking in the many arriving guests. Thursday was our day off, but all work campers here donate working time to get these festivities completed. Don got up about 3:00 am and began the cooking process. We have three kitchens here, and they were all pressed into service for the meal. I joined him about 5:00am. We had two types of turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, gravy, rolls, and iced tea or coffee to drink. Each of the guests brought a dish to pass which might be a salad, vegetable, or dessert. There was a great deal of food and an incredible variety of favorite dishes for our Thanksgiving. Roy gave the blessing, and all the guests went through one of two serving lines and then sampled the dishes to pass. Finally, we sat down with good friends Byron, Julie, and Ron and were joined by campers from Belgium who did not know what this holiday really entailed. HW2 had explained it to them when they checked in on Tuesday, and they did their homework by googling it on their computer. They could not believe all the food that was available.

We were able to visit, eat, meet many old friends, andwe thoroughly enjoyed the whole day. It had been several long days of work preparing, but it went well, and everyone went away full and happy to be here. Many of the guests return each year for this weekend bringing their entire family and joining friends. It seemed as if our family has grown to be a bit large, but we would hate to miss this day together. Happy travels.

A Black Friday Virgin no longer

This morning we did not get up at some ghastly hour to go shopping on Black Friday for the advertised specials from the newspapers. However, we did get up and arrived at Office Max by 7am so that we could check out their laptop computers. When we arrived, we saw that our friend Byron was already in line. He had been shopping at several stores already and was looking for a computer and printer. Now Byron likes to go shopping on Black Friday and did so last year, finding lots of good tools at Home Depot. I am more of the type of shopper who knows exactly what he wants, goes to the correct store, gets the item without trying it on, and heads back home. The whole process takes minutes not hours. However, our laptop computer seems to be going on the fritz, and we thought it would be a good idea to have a replacement computer just in case because we do so much with computers these days.

At Office Max we joined the line, and HW2 went up to talk with Byron. He agreed to get us a computer ticket and shortly after seven, the store opened. We all filed into the store and most of the potential shoppers headed for the electronic equipment. Byron picked up two computer tickets, and we waited to pick up the computers and then paid our bill at the check-out counter. Everyone was polite and visited with friends and strangers. We got the computer and then went on to San Antonio to do a bit more shopping.

An hour later found us in the city at the Rim Mall, and we started by going into Best Buy. Oh, the humanity! It was so busy and loud that we turned around and left. Next to Penney's where I waited in the car while HW2 shopped. A couple of stops later and we decided we needed lunch. Then the hour drive back to Kerrville and I was no longer a Black Friday Virgin. That might mean that in future years I will stay home and let HW2 have the shopping fun. Happy travels.

Any port in a storm

Now I can be quite distracted and forget things from moment to moment. I am particularly bad remembering to get some item on a grocery list. This afternoon, Mark, another work camper here, stopped to see why we had the boss's cart. Apparently when HW2 was at the office trying to pass off chewed up money, she exited rather quickly and came home in the first cart she found. Mark said that our cart was up at the office but neither of us were there. The boss wondered where his cart was.

Well I guess it is, "Any cart in a storm." HW2 will have trouble living this down but it is quite funny. I have gotten in other carts and driven off to discover that the cart was not mine. It happens. But the good thing was that the boss's cart is the fastest cart here and if you have to make a quick getaway, after passing chewed money.......... Happy travels.

P.S. Mark went into the boss's office at the end of the work day and asked," Are you and HW2 through with your cart for the day?" The boss laughed and laughed. HW2 is afraid whe will never live this incident down.

Is Max hungry?

Now Max has food whenever he wants it. He gets about 2-3 cups of dried dog food every day. I put out two cups in the morning and one at night. He is about 25 pounds and that is large for a Westie. He is not particularly fat but seems to be well fed.

Recently we have been finding small bits of this and that on the floor clearly a finished product by Max. If he finds it on the floor, he eats it. Today we found two dollar bills torn into pieces on the floor and HW2 said, "That's why he was so quiet." I stuck the pieces back together with scotch tape and am wondering whether a bank would take them for destroying and replace them with legal untorn tender. I will say, "The dog ate it," if asked why the bills are torn and repaired with scotch tape.

I know that Max has all of his adult teeth and am wondering why he is in a chewing mode. After all, he is one year old this November. Does this chewing stage go on for another year? Will he last around here if he eats any more of HW2's things. We think it was her money that she lost out of a pocket of her jacket. It would have been better if she had just lost a stray tissue or two. He can eat all of the tissues he wants but stay out of the family money please. Happy travels.

How quickly things change

Tim's dad Ron recently sent us a copy of an email which showed many changes in our cars. Riding home from church today, HW2 and I were talking about the many changes we have seen. Now we have electric windows instead of handles to open them. We have air conditioning instead of opening our windows. We have turn signals instead of hand signals. We have levers to change our head lights from low to high beams instead of a foot pedal. I am sure that you can think of other changes you have seen in your life as well.

Much air travel is today done in jet aircraft instead of propeller driven planes. Most of our supplies arrive in trucks instead of trains. Passenger trains are almost non-existent. We have moving sidewalks in airports instead of just walking.

We used to read newspapers or listen to the fifteen minutes of evening news on our radios instead of 24 hour news cycles present today on television or the Internet.

Finally we no longer listen to how many rings we hear on the telephone to learn if the call is ours on a party line. In fact ,we no longer have to crank the phone to get the operator so she can connect us with another. In fact, we seldom even dial a phone although we do speed dial others. I think I miss listening onto other conversations to keep up with what was going on with the neighbors. These are just a few changes that come to mind right now. Maybe more later. Happy travels.

We visit the cowboy capital of the world?

Yesterday we took a field trip to nearby Bandera, Texas. It is proclaimed the "Cowboy Capital of the World" because in the 1800's, cattle drives originated here and then went north to trains and markets in the East. Today this small city, population about 900, consists mostly of restaurants and cowboy clothing stores and a few tourist places along Main Street. We visited Bandera to check out whether our church group, Seekers, might like to visit in the spring. There is a rather interesting museum and many buildings dating back to the 1800's built of stone. The Polish also settled here in the late 1800's and founded a catholic church which is the second oldest church in Texas.

We enjoyed our visit and tried out a restaurant, eating outside, and thoroughly enjoying the fall weather. Then we wandered back to Kerrville on a different road which took us through Medina, which has apples as its claim to fame. We stopped but were disappointed to see very few apples for sale. They did have apple pies for sale for about $25 each which we thought was expensive. So no pie rode home with us. It was a fun diversion and the fall leaf scenery much enjoyed. Happy travels. PS - I wanted a piece of apple pie for dinner. Tough!

Gordon and his walking sticks

Gordon and his wife Diana are also work campers here. We work with them on two of our three working days and have enjoyed getting to know them. They lived in Alaska for many years and have been work camping in many places throughout the country. In their spare time Diana makes very nice jewelry, and Gordon makes walking sticks and canes from limbs or roots that he finds in their travels. On Thursday they took their crafts to a show at a nearby country club. Of course we went to be supportive and to see all the other crafts offered. We took our good friend Byron along on this venture.

When we arrived at the country club we quickly discovered that this was a well attended craft show but primarily for the ladies. HW2 enjoyed each vender's offerings, and Byron and I quickly viewed the crafts and exited when we found a place to sit on the lawn. We figured that we were out numbered by the ladies in about a 300 to l ratio. While sitting there and waiting for HW2, I commented that she had the family checkbook.

When good friend Ed came along, Gordon escaped from his selling duties, and we four sat there and watched the ladies buy the crafts. Ed thought I would be lucky if HW2 only spent $200, and I asked him about his wife Sandy. Ed said that Sandy had her own checkbook and her own money, and that he was only there to carry her purchases home. We got to know Ed and Sandy when I made several stained glass panels for their home last winter. Suddenly Sandy beckoned to Ed, and he dutifully went to see what she needed and returned with more of her purchases. HW2 appeared and checked out Diana's jewelry and of course found a piece she needed. I bought one of Gordon's canes, and our day was complete.

Later I checked with Gordon to discover how their day went, and he commented that Diana had a good day, but he had not sold many canes or walking sticks. I guess they did not appeal to the lady shoppers. It was a fun day even if we men were totally out numbered. Happy travels.

Discovery Rally

We have been having a Discovery rally here for several days. Rallies usually last from a few days up to two weeks. This one is here for about 4-5 days. Now we have a Discovery motor home, and of course the folks in the rally noticed. We have been approached by several rally members to join, and we could be their guests at any and all of their functions. This was a very nice gesture on their part, but we are not joiners and have never participated in a rally. We make friends in our own way and do not seem to enjoy meeting others just because of a vehicle we might own. We tried joining a Crossfire group but have not really pursued it much, either.

We have never liked the idea of cruise ships where you are with 3-4000 of your closest friends. I noticed in the paper today that the largest cruise ship ever built was delivered to a location in Florida. I find that totally unappealing. I am not a loner and when I make friends, try to keep them for life. What is this all about? I am not really sure but will be happy when this rally moves out. They have been nice guests to have, but we are not joiners. Happy travels.

The work continues

While we have been enjoying our four days off from work, the work has continued. On a daily basis some work campers have been busy painting our fence, and others have been trimming hedges. It is a work in progress though, and all have promised me that there is work left for me when I return on Monday. I like to paint but am not fond of trimming hedges. In my mind I have encouraged those working to keep on with the hedges. But, if it is not hedges, it is other plants that will need trimming. The park here is quite beautiful because of the trees, lawns, and other flowering bushes like Crepe Myrtle. However, we have many Crepe Myrtle bushes that need trimming. We also have to trim the trees so that the motor homes and fifth wheels or trailers can park without limbs being in the way. This is another activity for this fall and winter. To do this we frequently hire a lift of some sort, and one of us operates the lift and cuts off offending limbs with a chain saw while others gather and cart all to be burned or trashed.

I don't think we will be trimming trees this next week, and, hopefully, it will be painting that will head the list of the most necessary job. We have already used 15 gallons of white paint and are probably slightly more than half done. We have a great deal of fencing here, and it all needs to be painted. We also will need to continue mowing our nearly 100 acres and do the necessary trimming as well. Happy travels.

Keeping Up Appearances

There is a very funny British TV show that has been running for years on PBS stations called, "Keeping Up Appearances." It features an overbearing housewife, Hyacinth, her long suffering husband, and her several sisters who also have flower names. Hyacinth aspires to be considered as in the upper level of English society. Her main function is to give 'candlelight suppers' and to invite or finagle friends and acquaintances into attending.

Tonight we are having our suppers eight church group over for dinner, not in the motor home but in the nearby club house. We got pressed into this evening without our consent because of a well meaning member of our group who did not want us to be 'left out.' She is not being viewed positively by HW2 at this moment since she only had a few days to get ready. It will be a lovely evening in any event. We have made several trips to our storage unit for the proper supplies. The first set of dishes did not have cups in the box we brought home, and so it will be returned and another set was found. To do this required dismantling one quarter of the storage unit and then re-packing. It is much neater now. When we opened the safe to get our flatware, we discovered an empty safe, and then I remembered that I had carefully packed the flatware deep in the bowels of the unit for safety. Again, a fallback was necessary. Of course we could not find the linens either, and so two trips have been made to WalMart. The first for the first set and the second to return the first and replace with a better color for the second.

Now HW2 takes this all seriously, and I try to be helpful by lugging things from the storage unit and back and then from home to the club house and back. She does not want these church members to think that we live like trailer trash, and so the dinner will be the same as if she were the hostess in our past homes. She is an excellent hostess and does a great job. Hyacinth, you need to come and observe so that your candlelight dinners could sparkle like ours will. Happy travels.

Estate sales

Like addicts, we continue to go to estate sales and love the process. Currently we seldom buy anything, but we enjoy looking at a different house and the stuff that was collected over time and is now for sale. Once an antique dealer, always an antique lover. We have enjoyed attending sales here as it gets us into all parts of Kerrville, and we feel that we know the city all that much better. Once in a while there are tools that are needed, and they get bought. HW2 finds lots of things but reluctantly passes on most of them. Yesterday we drove to nearby Center Point, TX, because they had stained glass supplies in the advertisement. We put on our GPS system, and it got us right to the spot and quite efficiently, too.

The place was a dump, a single wide trailer in the middle of other cast off trailers, and we wondered why we had come at all. However, we kept on and found the stained glass supplies on the porch and also checked the inside as well. We made an offer for the supplies, and it was accepted, and we carted the whole lot back to the car.

Once in the car and starting to return to Kerrville, I remarked, "What is that awful smell?" I stopped the car and after a quick check found the culprit. I had stepped in some fresh dog poop. I believe I referred to it in unflattering but specific terms and tried to clean my shoe. The cleaning job was not completed until we had driven about five miles to a gas station, and I managed to get into the restroom to finish the job. I hoped that this expedition to garner some glass supplies was worth it but was not quite sure at this point.

We stopped for breakfast at Lenny's, I mean Denny's, and then did several other errands before returning home. After clearing out the car and washing off the floor mat, which also received some dog poop decoration, I more thoroughly inspected my glass finds. It included several tools, all in good condition, and lots of glass that could be used in future projects. In spite of my miss-step into dog poop, it was a great purchase. Happy travels.

Tom Sawyer and me

One of the consequences of the man driving through our fence was that we had to build a replacement fence and then, of course, paint it white to match the rest of the original fence. An obvious problem quickly developed. The new sections of the fence got painted and were very white, but the original was much more grey from road grunge and general weathering. The decision was made that we had to paint the whole fence, and we have been employed doing exactly that for several days. On Monday I managed to miss this wondrous opportunity by being willing to mow our many acres while Gordon painted. He actually got to choose and chose painting. On Tuesday we both painted. Gordon took one side and I the other, and we visited and painted the whole day.

Today, Wednesday, only Roy and I were working. Roy hates to paint and got to install new lights at our front gate, and this took most of his working day. At one point after lunch I stopped painting and helped Roy with his project. Earlier I had tested the pools and checked to see which of the guests were here or were leaving. I also picked up the garbage. This part of the day only took about an hour, and then I was on the painting detail. It is not as much fun to paint alone, and I pictured Tom Sawyer white-washing Aunt Sally's fence. As I leaned back and looked this way and that, I could see Huck watching and getting so interested that he would want to paint, and I would reluctantly let him. Where was Huck when I needed him and for that matter, where was Tom? Lunch came and about 3pm, I got back from helping Roy and started on the other side of the fence I had painted that morning by myself. Then Roy showed up and helped me finish. The two of us made short work of the sections and now another 100 yards are completed. It looks great, but I still need Huck and Tom to come and help. All of you readers who love to paint, please stop by. I have a paint brush just for you. Happy travels.

Fall in the Texas hill country

Fall here is quite lovely. The trees begin to get their fall colors, and the mornings are cold. The days warm up and, with the addition of sunshine, are just lovely. You can sit outside and enjoy a meal or just view your surroundings. Some of the trees here have a halo of color with most of the leaves still green. The lawns are green and in continual need of mowing until the first hard frost. We have already had a mild frost which added color to our trees. Soon the leaves will begin to fall in earnest, and we will have a new job to clean them up. Several leaf blowers will get put to use. After our car chase and damage to our front fence, we had repair work to be done. The parts of the damaged fence had to be removed, replaced, and now painted. The new fence looked very clean and bright, and now the entire fence is being repainted. When this project is completed this week, we will be very spiffy looking here. Everything will be crisp and new looking. Happy travels.