HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Wednesday, December 29 – In preparation of tomorrow's departure, Paul spent the day checking out the MH's tire pressure, oil & coolant levels, packing things up and performing some regular maintenance.  This will be the first “solo” trip for him.....he's always had Marsha with him to remind him of all incidentals. This better go smoothly or he's in BIG trouble.

We used Google Map for our route, directions from Norm and Jay (the friends we will be staying near), and the GPS all set and ready to go.  Now if he get's lost.......

We've been here since November 22, so it's time to pull up the jacks and hit the road.  Our next destination is Mission, TX.  Marsha will be flying into Halengen, TX on January 17.  That's only a short distance from Mission.

 

Thursday, December 30 – Up early to dump tanks and check tire pressure before leaving.  Yesterday's heavy rain put a stop to pre-departure checklist completions. The plan is to hit the road “at-first-light” and make the six-hour drive in one day. 

Well, Paul hit the road by 7:45 and had an uneventful trip arriving in Mission, TX, just before two o'clock.  After getting parked, Norm took him on a quick tour of the Park.  Can't really call this place an RV Park.....more like a small city of Winter Texans. We stopped and visited with friends, Jay and Betty, for awhile and then took a quick tour of the Clubhouse and pool area.  We'll get pictures of all these areas in the near future.

He then returned to his site to get set-up. It took a little longer than usual.  After leveling, Paul began putting out the slides and noticed one of the slides extended into a bush.  That won't work!  So he had to put everything back and move the entire motor home....JEESH!  Then he started all over again and finally finished getting settled-in. It's good to be “home.”

Our friends plus Paul will be ringing in the New Year at the party at the Clubhouse.

A Little Catch Up – Marsha and the girls are back in Canton, OH. They got there on the 20th of December. She said she and the girls are having a great time shopping each day. They are borrowing dad’s car. Marsha said she feels like she is back in high school asking permission to use the car…LOL

On the 30th, Marsha and her dad were looking out the window and look what they saw…

Dad stopped Santa while Marsha put on her shoes. She then ran out to talk to Santa. This jolly fellow owns the local hardware store and decorates his golf cart. He drives around handing out candy canes and listening to children tell him what they hope to find under the tree. He said last year he handed out 3500 candy canes. He was a jolly guy. As she was talking to him, a little girl came running up the street, jumped in his arms and gave him a big hug. What a neat site to see!

Do you believe?

 

The Wadsworth clan had a wonderful and Blessed Christmas at Rick and Chris’s house. It seems everyone got what they wanted and more.

A picture of the immediate family minus Paul…:(

Marsha’s brothers and dad got a very special gift this year. They were so proud to wear it.

Rick, Rod, Dad, Mark

 

The biggest surprise of the day was saved for dad. We all chipped in and got him something he never dreamed he would own…a 37” LD Samsung TV. Surprised isn’t the right word…Shocked is more like it.

Rod and Marsha set it up, and Marsha is happy to report they will watch the bowls games in HD. Goooooo Bucks and Hokies!

The girls take a Christmas picture together each year. We gave them a snowman ornament on one of their gifts. They decided to turn it into a necklace. Very cleaver girls!

Kelly left on Sunday and Carrie on Tuesday. Carrie had a terrible time flying back to Houston. She had the first flight out at 5:27 a.m., and it was DELAYED. We didn’t have the snow the East coast did but… She should have arrived back in Houston at 9:30 a.m. but didn’t even leave Canton until that time. Of course she missed her connection in Charlotte. She flew stand by and finally got back to her house at 6:00 p.m. Long day for that girl!

Dad and Marsha will be spending New Year’s Eve at Rod’s house, Marsha’s brother.

We wish you all very healthy, prosperous and safe NEW YEAR!

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see you back real soon. Have a GREAT NEW YEAR!

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see you back real soon. Have a great day!

CHRISTMAS COMES EARLY AT THE WEAVER’S

Saturday, December 18 - MERRY CHRISTMAS at the Weaver's house!!!

Doesn’t look like anyone has been good this year…right!

The stockings were hung on the counter with care. The two striped ones on each end  are 26 years old. Only cost about a buck back then.

We went to Kelly's apartment to celebrate Christmas today!!!

Kelly is so happy to get a new hair dryer and

pans. When she moved from Tyler, TX to Katy, somehow she lost all her lids to her pans…go figure.

Carrie loves her new veggie steamer.

The entire time Carrie went to Virginia Tech she never had a turkey caller. FINALLY, Santa heard her cry. She can take it to where ever she will be watching the big game on January 3rd.

 

Marsha and the girls have prepared the FEAST for Christmas dinner.  Of course dinner was delicious. Marsha made a family favorite....Italian Wedding Soup. This has become a family tradition we all enjoy! Everything was yummi.

The ladies are heading to Ohio the first of next week to have Christmas with Marsha's family. Poor Paul......he and Bella have to suffer in Houston's 75 degrees and sunny weather....ahhhhhh!!!

We had a wonderful time at Kelly's. Everyone seemed to enjoy and appreciate their gifts. Santa was really good to the Weaver family. The best gift was the chance to spend Christmas together as a family. We are truly Blessed with two wonderful daughters and a family full of love for each other!

When we got home, we let Bella open her gift. WOW…does she like her gift. Look real close and you can see a light-brown mouse with a tail. OH yea…catnip is inside the body. Merry Christmas Bella!

Sunday, December 19 – Another beautiful day. Marsha spent most of the day packing and cleaning.

We have new neighbors, Tracey and Rick Whalen, Whelan’s Wheels (go round and round and round). Tracey emailed Marsha a while back commenting on our blog. They have emailed back and forth since. We are happy to meet them. We met Rick up at the lodge and had a great time. Tracey was a bit under the weather. Seems they had a really BIG time Saturday at the Elks…LOL

Monday, December 20 – Marsha finished up packing, took the decorations down and gave last minute instructions to Paul about Bella.  We picked up Kelly and Jamie, a friend of Carrie’s, and headed for Hobby Airport.  Marsha and Kelly left for Canton, Ohio at 5 p.m. and arrived at 10:30.  They said security was no problem. They both said it wasn’t a bad experience at all.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y’all again real soon. Have a great day!

CONSTRUCTION EVERY WHERE IN HOUSTON..…EVEN AT THE WEAVER’S

Tuesday, December 14 - The fellow came to claim the washer/dryer this afternoon. He sent his brother to check it out about ten days ago. His brother left the cash so I would hold it. Thank goodness both guys came to help get it out of the MH and into the their truck. That sucker is HEAVY! Once again, we used the emergence escape window behind the driver's seat to pass it out. The door is too skinny and of course the passenger seat is in the way. If you ever need to get a big item in or out of a MH, that window is the route to go!

Sorry no pictures. Marsha was busy watching Bella. She had her outside and just about the time we started to move the washer, the garbage truck came. She HATES those trucks. She was running all over trying to get out of her leash. After that truck pulled out, for some reason this other BIG truck pulled in the parking lot. She AGAIN freaked out and Marsha had to contain her. Bella was glad when the guys left! She ran for the door and spent the rest of the day trying to recover from those BIG, NASTY trucks.  What a wuss!
Now we are going to convert that washer/dryer cabinet into clothes hanging and storage.



We really want a nice area to hang coats. That's one thing missing in most motor homes, a closet for coats.


Wednesday, December 15 – Paul did the closet conversion project today. He hung a closet rod in the former Washer/Dryer cabinet. We now have a nice place for coats and other odds and ends. Looks like it could have made a nice “dog house” for Paul…..ha ha!!






Finished and full! Those aren’t all coats. There are some shirts in there too.



Marsha did some laundry today. We went to a different Washateria. She is so glad we did. If we didn’t, she would have missed the next shot.



You say…”What the heck?” We too thought the same thing. We watch a lady put in a twin size comforter in this BIG washer and add about 2 CUPS of detergent. Marsha was going crazy! She said, “Let’s see what happens.” Well, the picture says it all.



Do you see any signs of a comforter? I told Marsha, “You better stop taking pictures. If that lady catches you, she will break your camera.” Marsha just stood there laughing. She again said, “Watch this.” This time the rinse water started and again NO SIGN OF A COMFORTER. The entire machine had suds. Thank goodness our dryer went off and I could get Marsha out of there. Doesn’t take much to humor her!
We then headed out to Outback Steakhouse to meet up with Carrie for dinner. We enjoyed dinner and visiting with Carrie AND she picked-up the tab! THANK-YOU!

Friday, December 17 – We are going to celebrate Christmas with the girls on Saturday, so that meant Marsha needed to get the Wedding Soup cooking today. We went over to Kelly’s early so she could get it on the stove. Boy did the apartment smell good! Good eatin’s tomorrow.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y’all back real soon. Have a great day!

OFFBEAT TOURIST ATTRACTIONS…HOUSTON

We went on an interesting drive this afternoon. After consulting Roadside America, a Guide to Tourist Oddities, we decided to go see a couple unique things here in South Houston.

On our way to our first stop we saw Reliant Stadium, Home of the Houston Texans.

A beautiful stadium with a movable roof.

The roof was open, and the area was preparing for Monday Night Football. We drove all around, pulling over frequently for photographs. The security officers were taking their places. There are tons of parking areas each with a special color code for special events such as tailgating parties.

Our second stop was The Giant Cross.

Over 170 feet high Sagemont Church Cross , taller than the Statue of Liberty (not counting its pedestal).  it is in the yard of one of Houston's “mega” Churches, Sagemont Church. The horizontal beam is 60 feet long. The cross is lit at night and is visible for miles. At the base is a 2,500 square foot platform for special events such as weddings.

Can you find Marsha in the picture? She is small small compared to this cross.

Baptism area.

Church officials say they want the cross to serve as a symbol of hope. Man was it HUGE!

Our third and final stop was a field full of metal sculptures.

It is located at Texas Pipe and Supply, Highway 288 and Belfort on the southbound side of 288 just south of Bellfort Blvd. The Texas Pipe and Supply call this "The Eclectic Menagerie Park". This was something to see! We pulled over on the entrance ramp and turned on our flashers to wander among the large metal sculptures. There is lots of detail in many of these sculptures.

There was a soldier,

Snoopy,

a rocket ship,

a modern fighter plane,

Armadillo

 

Close up of some of the detail.

Why they picked this one of do…who knows.

We called this Monster Man.

Keep your fingers out of his mouth.

If you look real close, you can see a bird standing on the motor.

This spider was pretty neat. The eyes were HUGE.

Marsha was attacked by one of the sculptures.

This was our favorite. Check out the bling on the legs and head band of the middle cow.

There were lots more. What an interesting adventure. Be sure to check out Roadside America for interesting and unique oddities in your area!

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y’all back real soon. Have a great day!

OOOOO…THOSE PESKY WASPS!

Monday, December 13 – Brrrrrrrrrrr!!! Woke-up to 32 degrees this morning in Houston. How cold was it where you live? I see on my weather watch that it was 16 degrees in Canton, OH (our former hometown) and 45 degrees in Mission, TX are next destination. Much of the Nation is firmly in the grip of Old Man Winter....pretty early I would say!

Last night Paul turned on the rear furnace. When the forecast calls for COLD weather, we turn on the rear furnace. It distributes heat to the holding tanks and the basement storage areas. Don't want pipes and such freezing now do we! Well, much to his surprise it sounded like the furnace fan was full of rocks! Ahhhh.....those darn mud-dobber wasps were at it!!! This morning, Paul raised to door covering the furnace area and removed the furnace blower fan and cleaned it out. Just a small nest, but what a racket it made.

In the pictures, you notice the furnace on top.

Below the furnace on the right, the smaller of the two black tanks, is called the “black-water” tank. It is for holding waste water from the toilet and holds about forty gallons of.....enough said on the subject... :=)

The larger of the two black tanks, is called the “gray-water” tank. It is for holding waste water from the three sinks and shower. It is approximately sixty gallons in size.

Finally, the largest tank, the white tank on the bottom, is our fresh water tank. It is for holding our “on-board” fresh water supply. We use this when NOT hooked up to city utilities. It holds approximately 100 gallons of water. Look closely and you might be able to see we have about a half tank of water.

Hope you enjoyed the tour of our holding tanks. When full, there is quite a bit of weight here. That explains why they are located just in front of the dual rear wheels.

Let’s see. It is December 13…8 days until the first day of Winter. Look at the pictures below and see what is going on here in Houston.

Your eyes do not deceive you. THEY ARE MOWING! It doesn’t matter how long we are here or how many times, we just can’t get over the weather.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y’all again. Have a great day!