We have arrived back in the Bryan-College Station area for a couple of weeks after leaving the beautiful Vineyards RV park in Grapevine. We need to close out a few human and pet doctor and dentist appointments before we hit the road toward the West.
Speaking of our next Grand Adventure I guess I ought to put a bit of it here. The Flying Scotsman will be freed of its mooring on the 14th of March and we will head toward the New Braunfels and Fredericksburg area.

It looks like we will hit the Sante Fe New Mexico area on the 18th or so and then motor North toward the Four Corners park area. We are planning on being on the Monument Valley area from then until the 22nd when we arrive in Phoenix for the Good Sam Rally in the Phoenix International Speedway. We'll be there until the 25th when we head south toward our good friends Dave and Karen Hammond in Tucson.

After a couple week break in Tucson the plan is to head north toward Las Vegas for a quick stop and then continue westerly. The big plan then is to run up California 395 to see all the national parks along the way, ending up in the Placerville/Sacramento area around the 20th of April ... but way too far in the future to say for certain but we will slow down there for a good rest.

Of course after that we will continue our run up the left side of North America til we hit Canada and then head east. Don't know from there ... timing and money, eh, read gas price. We are still thinking of doing a run up to Edmonton but we'll see .... still toying with Alaska ... but the miles are daunting.

Later in the summer it is back in the Barrie/Toronto area for a couple of months near Jo's dad, brother, and our niece Danni.

After another frenetic day of retirement activities ....

and while the pets await the arrival of their owners to the fiberglass mansion ...

and the owners are hitting another wine tasting venue ...

Margaritaville is humming in the wind ...

as the sun sinks into the West Texas horizon ...



we are loving it!

For the last week or so this has been our site at the Vineyards Camp in Grapevine and tonight we are preparing to unhook and head back to Bryan tomorrow. The weather has been pretty good and we have had a great time being with the grandkid for the last week or so. Temps here have been in the 60s but the winds have been pretty strong with some of the gusts over 35 MPH.

While the bus was blocking the effect of the wind we got a new friend in the little squirrel. Usually the Texas "tree rats" are very shy and never get close enough like the ones further north, however, this guy was a true Darwin survivalist and had no fear to grab a few peanuts.

And our other friends at the "lake house" are the geese and mallards who really are into the daily feeding. Once the geese, who can be pretty aggressive, get used to you they are really happy to get the ration of duck and goose food.

While we are on the patio it is leash time for both the indoor critters. Here you can see Buster under the table leg and Bandit who is looking for a new piece of hard grass to munch so that he can come inside and then barf it up. Bandit is actually a pretty good leash pet and will walk quite a ways and listens to being told what to do ... sort of.

Life in the park, eh.

While we are up here in the Dallas area of course we want to see the grandkid and we did just that. Here is Leighanne and Ev at their house in Richardson as Ev is testing out a new push toy.

He has just learned to walk and push stuff and this thing was a really fun thing. And this look as he charged me was priceless ... pure boy and excitement.

Then off to a little park really close by their house. We were able to feed the ducks and geese and Ev was enthralled by the critters.

Then ol grandpa got a turn at the swing thing and the lil guy really got into it.

And lastly a neat closeup of the little guy which is really reminiscent of a picture of Leigh when she was this age ... we'll have to dig it up and look at how close these two look like each other.

OK Bruce is going nuts with pictures of drainage ditches ... but here is another first for me. While walking Buster before we left Bryan last week we went by the usual creek.

Then I went ... woah ... there is something gold and fishy in the ditch. Too early in the morning or too many wines the night before ... nope ... a real goldfish in the creek!

The night before we had had the most rain in the RV we have ever had and the huge downpour had evidently freed this guy from a home pond somewhere upstream and now he was free. Unfortunately for him the ditch is pretty seasonal and there is a large snapper turtle nearby so the life expectancy is not good ... but it was a real sight in a rural stream.

Things get busy and I forget to sit down and pound out a few words. As I left the last post Buster and Dad were not doing so good and yet were getting the best care to help their individual problems.



Above is Buster when he was sick and diagnosed with Cushing's disease and diabetes. He has gotten excellent care from two vets and is responding well to the treatment. I give him two insulin shots daily which is much easier than I thought it would be and neither of us flinch now. He is back to his lively cute self and we are looking to a few more great years from the ol pooch.

Dad got his new improved pacemaker for his 95 year old heart (wonder how many beats, eh?) and is doing well but just a bit tired. We have had a couple of issues but they have been resolved by his doctor of many years in College Station.

We will be here in Bryan for a couple more days and then head to the Dallas area on Friday the 17th. We will stay in the Vineyards Campground where we have stayed earlier this year and will visit with Leigh, Brooks, and grand kid Ev for a week or so.

On a sad note Leigh's newer cat, Mishka, fell suddenly ill  and was rushed to the kitty ER only to be put down upon arrival; a real shock to all as the poor little thing was only a couple of years old. We will get more news about the event as we get up there on Friday.

Above is a newer arrival to our current park. It is hard to see but there are four RVs in the above picture, each in its own pull-through 90 foot slot. There is a motor home on the farthest left, then a trailer, then a really, really, really tiny teardrop shaped trailer, then a fifth wheel on the right. Believe it or not, the miniature teardrop thing houses two adults and they are here for at least a month. I think Jo-Anne said something involving, "Divorce court in a heartbeat ... "  Ahh, the mobile life.

Wow, what a week! We started the week by coming down to the New Braunfels area last Friday to see old friends we haven’t seen in a while and might not see for a long while.

On Sunday Dad wasn’t feeling good and called 911 and went from the Manor in Bryan over to the hospital side of St Jo at the hospital to look at his problems. Then on Monday Buster was not acting his normal self and so took him to a local vet here in New Braunfels.

And now here we are on Friday … whew, what a week. Each day we were checking on both Buster and Dad on a regular basis and it wasn’t changing. One of those … well …

At noon, we finally got the call and went to get Buster at the vet and on the way while avoiding a major accident, we whacked something in the road and blew out a front tire. We managed to get into the Lowe’s parking lot by the time it went flat and then did tire change 101 which I haven’t done in many, many years.

Buster’s diagnosis is that he is diabetic and has Cushing’s disease … new one to me but he is home and happy and so is Visa at $1300.

Then Richard called from College Station to say that Dad got a new pacemaker today at 2pm and the operation was successful and he is doing well.  

Then over to Discount Tires for a new set of rubber for about $700. Good folks with professional, quick service.

Let’s see, Buster @ $1300, new set of tires at $700 … Dad’s future life … priceless.