New Starts

We’ve had a week of some busy days and some lazy days - just the way we like it.  The weather has been just like that – warm, sunny days mixed in with cloudy and cool days, with a little rain thrown in for good measure.

Last Tuesday, we enjoyed a day trip with Deb and Rod back up towards Fredericksburg and some Texas Wine Country.  That evening, Dortha and Mark arrived for a couple of nights as they were on the way down to the Rio Grande Valley.  We got together at our place the next afternoon for football and happy hour, followed by a great grilled-burger dinner.  We tried to talk Dortha and Mark into hanging around with us here for a little longer, but they had things to do down in the valley, and took their leave much too soon on Thursday morning.

Brenda and John:

Dortha and Deb:

Rod and Mark:

Jim, master of the grill:

Then New Year’s Eve rolled around (where did that year go!) and we gathered at Deb and Rod’s, along with Brenda and John for Happy Hour and snacks.  Being the great partiers that we all are, I think we were all home long before 2011 made it’s entry.

On New Year’s Day, Deb & Rod with their son John and his wife Erica, along with Brenda and John, all joined us at our house for the traditional foods of the day:  Ham, Black-eyed peas, greens, corn bread and Georgia Peach cake.  Most of those foods have some traditional meaning related to wealth and good luck for the coming year.  The Georgia Peach cake, well, that was just plain good eats.

Brenda and John took their leave on Sunday, heading out to Arizona.  Since I subscribe to the Escapees “Day’s End Directory”, I gave John a hint I found in there about a parking lot in Van Horn, Texas, where they could park overnight with permission from the restaurant.  They were able to stay there at no cost, other than the cost of their meal in the restaurant, which, from their report, wasn’t too bad!

In between the happy hours and gatherings, we’ve been taking care of all the routines: walking, laundry, cleaning, watching endless college football bowl games on TV, shopping, and all that stuff that makes up our days.

Today was a special day for us.  Our good friends from Montana, Janna and Mike, made the trip here from near Baton Rouge, LA, where they’ve been staying with some other good friends, Gina and Rollie.  We made dinner for them, with assistance from Deb, who brought happy hour snacks, black-eyed peas and potatoes to go along with the crockpot sirloin roast and salad I made.  We spent quite a bit of time with Janna and Mike out in the Arizona desert last year on our first boondocking experience, and plan to join them out there again this year.  They are on the way out there now, and will have their choice of the best spot, since we are going to be following in a couple of weeks.

Janna brought my finished quilt with her, and after about 2 years in the planning and making, here it is in it’s place:

I am in awe of how this quilt turned out.  There just aren’t any words to describe how I feel about this beautiful, beautiful work of art lying on our bed.  The colors match our motorhome’s decor perfectly, the craftsmanship in the quilt is exquisite, and I just couldn’t be happier and more grateful about how it all came together.  Thank you, Janna, from the bottom of my heart. I “borrowed” this picture of me that Janna took as I first held the quilt.  I don’t know if you can really grasp how intense that smile on my face is!

Janna and Mike will be pulling out in the morning to  continue their westward trek towards Arizona.  We’ve decided to spend a week or so down in Rockport before we go out to the desert.  The night-time temperatures  in Arizona have been way too cold for our comfort over the last week or so, and we’ve decided to wait a little while before joining our friends out there.  We’ll go back to the same park in Rockport we stayed in before, “The Last Resort”, actually in the same space we were in.  Our current plans are to leave here on Thursday this week and spend a week or two down there.  Of course, you know our plans are always made in Jell-o, so anything could happen!