2008 10 31 Trick or Treaters

Papaw had his arms around a couple of pretty scary fellas! I'm surprised he was able to get his arms around a Ninja and a Professional Wrestler.

2008 10 30 Nancy's Birthday - A Big 53!

Yippee! Today is my 53rd birthday. We are with Heather, Michael and the little boys in Brookville, Indiana. I am enjoying the fall color, but look forward to getting out of the cold weather and going back to warmer temps.

Our plans for the evening is to go out to dinner at a local restaurant. Earlier this afternoon Papaw, Justin and Peyton surprised me with cards, flowers and candy. Later in the day I received lovely roses from Heather and Mike. Lisa sent a neat set of French steak knives (they have olive wood handles). They are really gorgeous and I will think of her when I use them.

Justin and Peyton made a special birthday cake for me. They also let me know that 53 candles are just too many to put on a cake - thanks guys! They decorated the cake themselves and had a lot of fun in the process. I thoroughly enjoyed watching them have so much fun. Even better was being scerenaded with happy birthday while they decorated the cake! It was a perfect day.

2008 10 28 Halloween Parties at Brookville Elementary

Not only do the boys get to trick or treat, they get to have a Halloween Parade at their School and a Party in their classrooms. Everyone had a really great time - the school was packed with some pretty scary characters - and some really sweet ones too.

2008 10 25 Soccer Game & Awards

Peyton and Justin love to play soccer. This was their final game so Mimi was fortunate she was in town to get to see Peyton play. Justin was scheduled to also play, but he was under the weather and didn't participate.

Here's a shot of Peyton giving the ball a good kick. Little guy hardly has any meat on his bones, the ball is as big as he is. The next shot is of Peyton wearing his medal. The final shot is his coach and team in a group shot.

2008 10 22 Halloween Costumes

Heather, Michael and the Boys really look forward to Halloween. Heather and Michael are Gladiators, Peyton is a Ninja and Justin is going to be a professional wrestler. They certainly are having fun play fighting with the Warrior Mama.

2008 10 17

We've managed to stay busy over the past week with doctor and dental visits. We've reconnected with a couple of our friends for dinner and that's been great.

Nancy's dental saga is ongoing. Yesterday she started the second phase of a dental implant - which put her completely out of commission. A mouth full of stitches, regular doses of antibiotics and pain killers kept her in bed and practically unconscious. Today was a bit more productive. We made it to the Dallas County Health Department for the second shot in a series of 3 Hep A/B vaccinations. Joe got his flu shot from our family doc yesterday, but Nancy's appointment isn't for a couple of weeks - so she got her's at today from the health department.

Not feeling up to much we headed back to the bus for a nap and another pain pill.

Nancy will fly to visit Heather in Indiana where Joe will join her in a few days.

Still need to pack, but that won't take long. All for now.

2008 10 14 Sunnyvale, Texas

We moved from Arlington to Sunnyvale on Sunday. This location is more central in location to our appointments and to our friends. We've stayed in this park on previous stays to the area and enjoyed it. It is very quiet and has recently been expanded. The park is full of 5th Wheel RVs as it's State Fair Time in Texas.

We headed East to Van to visit Joe's cousin Jack Dodson, and his wife Doris. It was great to see them again and we hope to get back their way before we leave Texas.

We took a drive by the property we used to own in Rockwall and out in Grand Saline. Not much has changed - it's still there. No - we have no desire to own property anytime soon.

Drop us a line and let us know how you're all doing.

2008 10 05 Arlington, Texas

We made our way into the Metroplex this morning and have settled into the RV Park in Arlington. Because the State Fair is on in Dallas, all the RV Parks are filled, so we are here in Arlington for until next Sunday when we'll move closer - to a park in Sunnyvale where we've stayed before.

After we got the bus hooked-up and set-up I took the car to the car wash to get rid of some of the grime and made a quick run through Target while Joe get's his fill of Sunday Football - yes, it's Football season.

We start our annual visits to our doctor, dentist, opthalmologist, dental hygenist and the like tomorrow! What Fun. It's been a while since we were there and he won't refill our RXs any more till we come in for a visit. Geee - what a guy.

2008 10 04 Marshall, Texas

We spent a night in Marshall, Texas as we make our way to Dallas.

While there we visited Ocil and Oma Lee Parsons in Carthage and Nina Duncan in Linden. It was really great to see everyone and they are all doing well. It is hard to believe that Uncle Ocil is 92 and that Oma Lee will be 93 on November 8th! They remain in their home and attend church every Sunday. They drive to church and to the doctor - but don't venture too far from home, and never after dark. Can't blame them for that as we prefer to do our driving in the daytime.

Nina is also doing well. She has 2 new great granddaughters she's looking forward to seeing for the first time when she goes to visit Rodney and Cheree in December. She tells us that all her family is doing well. Nina enjoys living close to her two brothers who also live in Linden.

We look forward to seeing them again when we make our way through East Texas.

2008 10 01 Hot Springs

I've always wanted to visit Hot Springs and I am really pleased that we made it. Over the past couple of days we've enjoyed perfect weather. We checked-out the town, the Springs and the National Park.

We strolled Bathhouse Row imagining what it would have been like to be here in the heydey of the spa. I am sure it was wonderful, especially since the average temperature of the water is 143 degrees Farenheit. It is interesting to note that Hot Springs is not in a volcanic region. Rock out-croppings absorb rainfall in an arc from the northwest to the east. Pores and fractures in the rock conduct the water deep into the earth. As the water percolates downward, increasingly warmer rock heats is at a rate of about 4 degrees every 300 feet (a geothermal gradient). Eventually the water meets faults and joints that lead to the lower west slope of Hot Springs Mountain, where it surfaces.

Several fountains are provided throughout town where visitors may collect the water for their personal use. The park brochure suggests that on average, 700,000 gallons are collected from the springs every day. That's a lot of water! We saw several groups of folks with plastic jug in hand heading for the tap.

After visiting the National Park Service Visitor Center (formerly the Fordyce Bathhouse) we hiked the Hot Springs Mountain Trail to the observation tower. You can see for miles and the center provides a lot of local lore about the area, and it's famous citizens - primarily Bill Clinton. The trails have been in constant use since the 1800s. The forest is filled with Oak, Magnolia, Pine and Hickory and it's just a beautiful place.

We enjoyed McClard's BBQ for lunch, a favorite of President Clinton. By the way, the BBQ is quite good. I especially enjoyed the slaw and the sauce.