Black Friday

I used to do Black Friday big time. I'd set my alarm for 4:00 am and be one of the first people on the road. Had to hit those stores for the best stuff! Now, having taken a year to get rid of all our stuff, I approach Black Friday with much more nonchalance. Not that I totally ignore it, but the pressure is definitely off.

So, I slept in until my usual 6:00 am on Friday, and surfed the web on my iPhone for a bit. About 10:00 Bob and I took a drive to the local Walmart to check out the $2 videos. We found five plus a $4 one that we liked, as well as some yarn to weave a lap blanket ($2/skein) and a couple of grocery items.  I was satisfied.

We then went to the Post Office and a nearby Starbucks to upload some blog posts.  I really miss having wifi.  In the last two weeks we have used 13.6 GB of data on my cell phone, mostly surfing the web. AT&T is throttling my data after 3 GB so even though I have an unlimited plan the service is very very slow.  Not to mention that I am unable to upload my blog via cell phone. Thus the long gaps between clusters of posts.  In Mission we should be able to load posts daily, if the campground's promise of "free wifi" also means "wifi that has a strong enough signal to actually work."

We did what we needed to do, then headed back to the campground. Unfortunately, upon arrival back at camp I realized that I had left my purse hanging on the back of the chair at Starbucks. <sigh>  A quick call was made.  My purse was still on the chair and the manager promised to hold it safely for me, so back to Starbucks we went.  Nothing seemed to be missing. I was very thankful!

The rest of the day was spent relaxing at camp. It was a beautiful day, and I sat outside and read for a while in the sunshine until I got cold, then went inside. I am fighting another cold ( must be getting used to a whole new set of viruses) so I didn't do too much else.  Fortunately my Kindle is full of books to enjoy! We had turkey, stuffing, and gravy for dinner, and later I made turkey stock in my pressure cooker while Bob and I watched another couple of episodes of Northern Exposure

Thursday, Thanksgiving Day

Well, we already celebrated Thanksgiving Day yesterday, but it was so good we decided to do it again! Gail and Mark came over with Caryn's two little ones, as Caryn was not feeling well. They brought leftovers from the night before and we had a nice feast for lunch, before going out for a walk around the campground. It was a perfect day for a walk; temperatures were in the mid to upper 60's and the sky was blue. Thanksgiving always featured a family walk around the block when we were growing up so it just felt right.

I Face Timed the kids, gathered together at Kristen's house, and it was so nice to see them with spouses and grandchildren. The men were gathered around the after-dinner table playing Magic cards and they seemed to be having fun. Wish we could hug through the phone, but what a blessing to be living in a time where we can see people as we talk to them.  We live in an amazing world.

The rest of the day was for relaxing, which felt good after the last couple of hectic days. Bob watched a little football in the bedroom while I read a book in the living room.  I am pleasantly surprised how well sound is contained in another room when TV is on.

Our neighbors here are feeding the local deer, so there are almost always a few hanging out where we can watch them from our front window.  They are fun to watch.

Moving Day and an Early Thanksgiving Feast

What a busy day! I started my day roasting a 10 lb turkey in our little convection oven at about 9:00 am. I had been a little nervous about using our convection/microwave oven in the MH when we first got on the road, but I am starting to feel more comfortable with it. It does not seem to cook any faster than a regular oven, which surprises me, but I am fine with that.  It did a fine job with the bird, and it was done about noon time as we were getting ready to move to a different campground on Belton Lake.  I also made a brown rice "stuffing" with walnuts and cranberries, and some mushroom gravy to go with it.  The stuffing and gravy were vegan and gluten free so the vegetarians in our family could enjoy it. We brought some turkey to share with Shawn for dinner.

We drove the 10 miles to our new campground without difficulties and soon were settled into our new site.  We have a view of the lake from our living room, and have seen many deer already.  They come really close and don't seem very afraid at all.

At 4:00 we headed for dinner.  What a wonderful meal and visit we had at Gail and Mark's house! The table groaned with a variety of yummy dishes, so much so that some didn't even get sampled.  It's a good thing we are getting together for leftovers on Thursday to eat more.  Gail, Mark, and Caryn are vegetarians (Gail and Mark are also vegans) so it was a little challenge coming up with food that fit the criteria of vegan + gluten-free, but where there's a will there's a way, they say.

Caryn, Shawn, and the two little ones were with us as well, and we had so much fun hanging out together. What a joy to be able to "live" close by this part our family for a couple of weeks, even if we do miss our children and grandchildren.

Weaving and Antiquing Tuesday

Here is a picture of the project on my loom at the moment--dish towels for a certain someone in the family who just got married. Not sure if you read my blog, Bernie, but here is proof they are works in progress! Today I finished warping them and started to weave. They are an eight shaft structure and will look different on both sides.  I have been warping the loom in small stages, taking my time and enjoying the process as I go.

I have to be creative when using accessories.  I attach my bobbin winder to the back of a dinette seat, because the countertops and table are too thick for the clamp.

As I played with my loom, Bob ran errands in preparation for Thanksgiving. Gail called to ask if we would mind moving the meal to Wednesday evening so that our nephew Shawn could join us.  Of course that was fine! I was happy we could spend some time with Shawn because he is working 7-7 on Thanksgiving Day.

Later, Gail and I went to a couple of antique stores in Belton that we had missed last week, and enjoyed poking around the shops.  What is it about antique stores that I love so much, especially now that we have no room for "stuff?" I couldn't tell you. But I still like to look!

We also stopped at an H-E-B, a local grocery chain.  Outside we saw some interesting lawn art.  Metal chickens!

Meltdown Monday

Monday was a tough day for me.  I was feeling punk, as my dad used to say, with a little post nasal drip and the beginnings of a cough.  Bob and I took a drive to run some errands, leaving right before lunchtime. We went to the grocery store, then to the library to use their wifi.  We did some business, then headed home.  

My personal goal for the day was to somewhere, somehow find a Texas motor vehicles (called DPS here) to schedule our road tests. At least if we are stopped while driving our MH with only learners permits we can show that we have appointments. I have been told that many DPS sites are not taking road test appointments until February of 2015. Since we are leaving TX in January, this was not good news, because without a valid license we would not be covered by insurance in the event of an accident.

It's not easy to schedule appointments under the conditions we have. We had a list of DPS offices, but phone calls to them resulted in the caller being told that "due to unusually high call volume we are unable to speak to you at this time--please call back later."  I was unable to find a list anywhere of offices that offer road tests for CDL licenses, and using my cell phone with the tiny buttons and sloooooooooow loading of pages was frustrating in the extreme.  I finally called the Escapees (a traveling club for RVers that we belong to) and the woman I spoke with was very helpful. And calming, because I was really starting to stress over this! She gave me a number to the Livingston, TX DPS and after (no exaggeration) 36 tries, I got to a real person. This agent told me how to figure out which offices had the test and was sympathetic, and said the only way to do this was to go online and try to register for a road test for each town in which we could possibly take it.

At this point I was ready to scream.  What a stupid system!  A bad word or two MAY have fallen from my lips.  I don't know. I have blocked it out--you'd have to ask Bob. 

I put on my big girl panties and soldiered on, sitting with a map and figuring out the general route we'd be taking from Mission to Arizona.  McAllen, the closest to Mission, was making appointments for mid-February.  Five or six others were also a no-go.  Then I tried Laredo and BINGO! Morning openings for Friday January 2 for both of us. It took well over an hour just to make those appointments on my iPhone as it kept freezing on me, but we got them!

Laredo is an easy 136 miles from Mission, so it fits perfectly with our schedule of leaving January 1st.  Hopefully we will both be all set with our licenses before leaving Texas.  Keep fingers crossed for us!

Birthday Weekend

This weekend we were busy busy busy! On Saturday (my birthday) the four of us took a drive into Austin, TX for the day.  We stopped at Mothers Cafe for an early lunch.  Mothers is a vegetarian restaurant we discovered on our last trip to Austin two years ago, and I have been looking forward to revisiting it ever since.  Gail and Mark are vegans and I eat gluten-free.  It can be a challenge to find places to eat that cater to both eating styles, unless you don't mind limiting yourself to salads.  We were all able to order different platters at Mothers that were yummy and filling. As a bonus, a harpist sat near our table and entertained us with beautiful music.  


After lunch the skies opened up and poured rain. We drove to the Lyndon B. Johnson Presidential Library and Museum and made a mad dash for the door.  But even with the bad weather we were so glad we went.  

There are thirteen presidential libraries in the U.S. And three of them are in Texas.  Bob and I are hoping to visit all of them.  I find it fascinating to view a president's term in office through their eyes, for that is what you see at these museums.  In a way, it is a way that a president is able to explain decisions and the circumstances in which they were made. In the case of LBJ, what I remember as a teenager was the Vietnam War, the protests, the unrest.  I was impressed this weekend at the changes LBJ made in this country: Medicare, the Civil Rights Amendment, policies protecting the environment, college grant programs, all were his doing. One thing I am starting to see that, no matter what their political party, our presidents work hard to try and make this country a better place for us.  It is easy for us to be critical of decisions for which we don't have all the facts. 

We finished up at the Museum and headed home.  Saturday was my birthday and Gail and Mark had baked me a yummy cake that we all enjoyed back at the motorhome. It was the perfect ending to a wonderful day.

Sunday dawned sunny and warm, with high temperatures in the 70's. This is why we came to Texas!  In the afternoon we met up with Gail, Mark, and their dog Lily for a walk along the Pepper Creek Trail in Temple. The trail is a wide, paved walkway through the woods that boasts waterfalls and beautiful scenery. Very memorable.

We then followed Gail and Mark home for a visit with our niece a Caryn and her two adorable children, who joined us for dinner. What a lovely time we had!

And Then We Passed on Friday!

Ok, today was a much better day! We studied hard and headed over to the DPS a little after eight am. The nice woman at the front desk remembered us from the day before and gave us lots of encouragement before retaking the written class B test.  And we both passed! Now our brains are full of such important information as the maximum width of a cotton-transporting vehicle with special permits, yet we weren't sure if TX drivers could talk on a cell phone while driving. Turns out we can but not in a school zone. Funny the things that TX thinks is important for us to know!

After returning home, my sister Gail picked me up to have an afternoon of girl time. I got two pairs of jeans in a consignment store in Temple, then stopped for lunch at a wonderful Mexican restaurant in Belton, overlooking a river.  There are several antique stores in town and we scoured a couple of them for treasures.  I got myself a coffee cup since I only had two and it's nice to have an extra.  By 3:30 we decided to call it a day and save the other antique stores in town for another day. 

The weather cooperated with threatening skies but no rain, and temperatures in the high 60's.  I could get used to this weather!