DALLAS AND DELORES

Monday, November 16 – We had our first windy night in the MH. I got up about 3:30 to take the satellite dish down. I was worried it would blow over and break......have to watch the Browns on Monday Night Football tonight........LOL. Windy nights don't make for good sleeping in a motor home (MH). There was a front blowing through bringing some rain and cooler temps.

We took the MH to the Freightliner/RV service facility in Dallas today. We had to drive right through the heart of Dallas. The Freightliner facility is brand new. HUGE! They are in the process of preparing 3,200 Freightliner trucks for delivery to Walmart......WOW! When you pull into their gated facility, you show your driver's license, then security escorts you to your service bay. They have a wing on the building for RV's only. If they don't finish repairs by closing, they have full hook-ups (electric, water, and sewer). We may have to use those facilities tomorrow (Tuesday) night. We will be having the tie-rod ends and the drag links replaced on the MH. The grease boots have disintegrated and unfortunately you need to replace the whole part. They won't have parts delivered until late morning, so we may be spending the night in their campground (parking lot) on Tuesday night.

Dallas is sure a beautiful city! Driving is nerve-racking but nothing like Houston or Atlanta. Construction is every where in this city, just like Houston.

More pictures of downtown Dallas.

We went to Grapevine, TX this afternoon. It is known for it's vineyards. It is north of Dallas and a beautiful “up-scale” community. Everything is new or newly remodeled. Huge shopping districts, a renovated historical district and home to the Dallas/Fort Worth Airport. Money is definitely being spent in this area! Marsha loved how they were decorating the median for Christmas.

 

We received sad news this morning. Delores Weaver, who is my oldest brother John's wife passed away overnight from ALS. Delores was diagnosed with ALS about a year ago. She suffered a lot during the past year and held on to see family and friends at the recent ALS gathering. If you've been reading our blog, Marsha and I, along with about fifty other friends and family walked in her honor in the Augusta ALS Walk-a-thon on October 24. John had a barbecue at their home after the walk and everyone enjoyed sharing the day with Delores. She was a wonderful person who loved to celebrate life with her many friends and family members. There was always a crowd in her home and you were always welcome to stop and stay. She will be sadly missed!

Here is John and DeLores. She was such a beautiful southern belle!

Marsha and I are so disappointed that today's motor home problems will keep us from attending her funeral. Delores, John, and their family will be in our prayers. We love you all!!!

ALWAYS DRINK UPSTREAM FROM THE HERD

Friday, November 13 – Every so often we will share with you a little Texas humor. Our heading is the first of many to come.

We had an 8:00 a.m. appointment to have the local RV shop take a look at the tie-rod grease boots. I knew these may need replaced so I wanted to get their opinion. This way, if parts are needed they can order them and have them here when we get back from Dallas/Ft.Worth. Yep! Need grease boots on the front end. There's a Freightliner/Motor Home Service Center in Dallas. We'll stop there for a second opinion.

Met at Kelly's place. Carrie arrived around 7:00 p.m. We enjoyed each other's company till about 10:00. We are staying at the A-OK South RV Park. It is really nothing more than a big parking lot. It works for us since all we will do is sleep here. We will be with the girls at Kelly’s most of the time.

Saturday, November 14 – Spent the day with Kelly and Carrie. K. C. and Scott came over to the campground first to see our new home. They were amazed how much room we had with the four slides out. It is really surprising! Then we had a great tour of Tyler, TX with our driver Kelly. This included the Tyler Rose Garden. The Tyler Rose Garden began construction in 1939, and the first roses were planted in 1952. An amazing display of roses. Even in November, many, many were still blooming. The Texas Rose Festival is held the third week of October. We hope to be in Tyler the last Sunday in April for their big “Rose Sunday Celebration and Kick-Off for the Rose Season.” The Tyler Municipal Rose Garden is a 14-acre park, making it the nation's largest rose garden. We took in a Wood Carver's show at the garden also. They were having their holiday craft show at the Rose Museum Center. Since they don’t get snow, they created their own snow. The bottom right picture shows kids going down a ramp of man-made snow. What a hoot!! Read more about the Tyler Rose Garden.


Then did some quick grocery shopping and headed back to Kelly's place to watch some college football. After the game we had dinner and then all played a game of Mexican Train – the new domino game we learned at the Escapee Park.

See some more pictures of the Rose Center.

Sunday, November 15 – We are attending church at Colonial Hills Baptist Church in Tyler that Scott, Kelly significant other, attends. Pastor Jerry Calaway is in charge of the Praise &Worship Ministry. WOW, what a voice. The Celebration Choir was wonderful. Senior Pastor, Robert Carter, gave a powerful sermon on “Principals of Stewardship.” They include Sermon Notes with blanks to fill in. Marsha observed just about everyone filling in the blanks. They are a very active congregation. Everyone was very friendly. Paul and I felt very welcomed. It is a beautiful church. We attended the 8:30 a.m. service so we can drive up to Dallas today for our next stop at Hickory Hills Corp of Engineering campground. Scott attends the late service.


Now this is a campground!!! Beautiful sites with privacy between HUGE camp sites. We can even have a campfire. There are hiking trails and a huge lake .....AND....only 30 miles north of Dallas/Fort Worth. Awesome! An additional benefit is we can pick up TV on the satellite and have great cell and INTERNET service. Bella (our cat) definitely approves.....she can't wait to explore (on a leash of course). Pictures to come on next update. Thanks for checking us out.

DOWN TIME IN LIVINGSTON

Saturday/Sunday, November 7-8 - We spent the weekend visiting our Girls. It's been over four months since we've seen them. We've really been looking forward to this!

Carrie is doing wonderful. We spent some quality time catching up on her exciting life in the third largest city in the USA – Houston. She drives like a real Houstonian too......YIIKES! We spent quite a bit of time driving around enjoying each other's company and seeing Houston. What a thriving city. Growth is everywhere. New restaurants, clubs, shopping, housing, condos, and HIGHWAYS stacked on top of each other. As Marsha said, “If you can't buy it hear, they don't make it!” We went shopping for cowboy boots. Exxon awards employees for safety by giving them gift cards. Carrie had enough gift cards saved to get a free pair of boots at Cavender's, a huge western wear outfitter in Texas. As we were driving to Target, we saw these HUGE figures. Carrie quickly turned down a side alley and walla…we were in the heart of the Arts community in Texas. It just so happens they were setting up for the Orange Show, a big fundraising event that evening for the Arts in Houston. We walked right in and started to take pictures. One of the organizers walked up to us and asked if we needed help. Paul asked what was going on, and this gentleman answered all our questions. It  appeared that it would be a beautiful event. About 20 caterers arrived while we were there. Everyone was making decorations or painting, etc. Lots of excitement. One of the better know artists did sculptures of the presidents. Each was about 50 ft. made out of stucco. They were fascinating. Here are a few pictures from the event. Look how small Carrie and Paul look next to the Beatles. They were also playing their guitars. The next is President Obama. The second row has John F. Kennedy and a row of past presidents.

 

See more exciting pictures.

Carrie has some wonder friends, and we visited with several throughout the day. Carrie treated us to dinner at the Hickory BBQ. Delicious dinner was had by all. We headed back to Livingston about 7:00 p.m. but not before a detour sent us through the heart of Houston....in the dark. Wonderful driving experience (LOL), but a chance to see a beautiful city all lit up. Livingston is only about an hour and fifteen minutes north of Houston, so it wasn't a bad drive at all.

Sunday morning we were back on the road to Tyler, Texas to visit Kelly and Scott. We checked out several campgrounds we are considering staying at next week. We chose one about 12 minutes from Kelly's place. It doesn't really have that “it” factor, but it will do for a few days stay at Kelly's next week. We went to eat at the Purple Pig. A barbeque place on the outskirts of Tyler. Very good! Scott graciously picked up the check....thanks Scott. We returned to Kelly's and visited the rest of the afternoon. Kelly seems to have adjusted well to her move to Texas. She's happy! Tyler is another thriving and growing Texan city. With a population of about 84,000 it is not near has big as Houston, but a very nice town. It is located about two hours southeast of Dallas or about four hours north of Houston. At about 4:00 p.m., we decided we should head home so we didn't have to drive the entire way in the dark. It's only about two and a half hours from Livingston, but it's a tough drive. Numerous small towns that require you to slow down and deal with local traffic. After arriving back in Livingston, we relaxed and watched a football game on TV.

A nice weekend visiting with Kelly and Carrie. Glad to see they are both doing so well and seem to enjoy their lives here in Texas. We will be spending additional time with them during the upcoming holidays. That's a big reason we chose to begin full-timing. We would like to see them several times a year.

Monday, November 9 - Marsha did house work today. She cleaned the MH from front to back. I went to the grocery store, tried to get a haircut (and failed), and did a few “outside” jogs. Did some future campground planning and getting reservations. One of those slow days

Marsha and I have talked to several Canadians about their universal health care system. Each and everyone of them say they would not trade it for the American health care system. They are very happy with the care they receive and express no truth to the idea that they have to wait for long periods before receiving care. They chuckle when asked about many Americans fearing a similar health care plan. Hmmmm.....straight from the horses mouth!

Tuesday, November 11 - First thing this morning I went to town to get my hair cut. $5.00! That was the total cost at Miller's Barber Shop. I had to wait about an hour. The place was packed. She is a small black grandma that just loves everyone. She DOES NOT accept tips. WOW! Didn’t know anyone did that now a days.

I installed a Progressive EMS electrical monitoring system today. Many campgrounds have faulty electrical system that could do severe damage to your motor home electrical system, air conditioners, microwaves, TV, and other electrical components. The EMS monitor shuts down the MH electrical system automatically if it senses faulty current. It also displays your voltage, amps being used, and checks to see if you have 60 hertz. Manufactures should install these on all RV's but of course they don't. The installation went well.

Wednesday, November 11 - After supper we went up to the activity center to learn how to play Mexican Train. It's a domino game played at many RV Parks across the country. I guess each area of the country has their own version of the game. It is really a fun game. You'll never guess who won?????? I did! Marsha came in a close second (10 points behind me). The newbies win....LOL Not sure if they will let us come back again….HAHA

Thursday, November 12 - We'll be closing up shop here at Livingston with plans to pull up the stabilizers and hit the road tomorrow morning. We'll be driving the MH up to Tyler, TX (Kelly's town) for a mini-family get-together. Carrie will be coming up Friday evening after returning from a week in New Orleans on a work assignment. From Tyler, we'll drive up to the Dallas/Fort Worth area on Sunday for a week of sightseeing. Then back to Livingston and the Houston area for Thanksgiving.