White Christmas in Texas Y'all

 

When we arrived at the kid's house on Christmas Day it was a steady 40 degree pouring rain. As the morning progressed we watched the temp decrease and by about 1pm, just after dinner, we hit the road to avoid being iced in.

Above, each line of cars is following a truck spewing salt and sand on the freeway and by the time we got back to Grapevine it was 32 and falling with ice and snow eventually getting down to 22 and a 20 mph wind.

And by the next morning we were greeted by a solid sheet of ice and about 2 inches of snow .... wow, and we learned that there were over 70 accidents on the highways of Dallas ... close!

The shot below really reminded us of Germany with the low sun, winter trees, and the covering of snow and ice ... truly beautiful.

Again, Merry Christmas to all and for those that hoped for a "white Christmas" your wishes were really answered.

Merry Christmas from Texas!

 

 

We hope everyone is enjoying the holiday season and getting to see the relatives and loved ones as much as possible and maybe a break from the normal hectic routine of life. We were in Richardson to be with Leigh, Brooks, and Ev early Christmas morning and above he is examining a new shop bench (little boy, eh) with the shop lite shining on him.

Below the thrill of opening the gift far exceeded the value of the gift itself ... he'll learn in time.

And as they say the ability to play with the box is pure fun for the kid ... especially as he was throwing the shredded paper out as fast as Grandma could stuff it around him. It's not tough to get this kid excited as you can see from his expression.

Below is a new connotation for the phrase "paper trail." Not really sure what he got for gifts, but the unwrapping was exciting! Usually I get the "before" shot before the area around the tree is destroyed but I was too slow this year; trust me, it looked very nice and the kids have done a super job on their home here.

Whew. And finally a quieter time around the table with family, a glass of wine, and a really great ham dinner.

CHEERS!!

R.I.P.  BUSTER

1998-2012

 

On December 21st, last Friday, our beloved little Buster passed away. While most pet owners praise their animals, we think Buster was an exception as a quiet, steady, faithful friend who had no enemies. He was a great international RV traveler through all kinds of weather and extreme quality of campsites, and yet always eager to meet new people and animals with curiosity and a wiggle of the curly tail.

 

The folks here in Grapevine at the Animal Emergency facility were exceptional in their compassion, dedication, and help to the end.

 

We will miss him and yet he will live with us in our memory forever as a kind and gentle friend. Bye bye buddy.

Happy Birthday Mom!

 

Above is the crew as we celebrated Mom's 94th birthday at Cenare's restaurant. Everybody patiently waiting while the food gets cool for the event picture. Even with a little delay for posterity the food, as always, was excellent.

And then the happy birthday girl, after a few presents, toasts, and cards, got to blow out the obligatory candle on some excellent tiramisu. Wonderful evening with the family on a really cool occasion. Here's to many more Mom!

Ah yes, propane. Still don't have any ... good thing it isn't too cold, eh. After our wonderful friends at the Hitch House in Barrie diagnosed the real problem we thought we could get the tank replaced in Elkhart. The factory had to order it and it has finally arrived after almost two months. Below is the culprit ... massive thing, very embedded in the guts of the Flying Scotsman

 

 

We have just been told that the Elkhart warrantee guys will send it to their selected repair facility in the Dallas area. The kind folks at McLain's in Fort Worth said they are talking to the factory and will let us know when the tank arrives at their place and then we will set up a repair time ... sometime next year. Progress ... slow ... but progress.

OK, speaking of the Hitch House in Barrie which we really like and where we were earlier this summer with our propane leak. Below is a file photo of the place ... because ...

This last week they had a massive five alarm fire and the showroom was destroyed with at least seven high-end rigs in it ... wow ... hope it wasn't an Astoria propane tank that started it!

We are confident that they will rebuild in as fine a manner as they had been before and it will be interesting to see the place as we get back up there next summer.

We hope all had a happy and bountiful Thanksgiving!

 

As the photographer was too busy eating, I got very few pictures of the event. We did have a great afternoon dinner at the La Riviera Restaurant in Bryan as we did last year. Perfect meal with some really great buffet items in a small but attractive venue. Rich and Kerry, Mom and Dad, Leigh and Brooks and Ev, joined us for the feast.

 

The younger set then adjourned to Rich and Kerry's place for some coffee and treats and to let the grand kid unwind a bit before heading back to the hotel.

 

 

We are in Bryan for a couple of weeks and have experimented with a couple of different RV parks rather than the Aggiland which we found to be quite noisy. First we went over to the BCS Highway 21 park and found to our surprise that it was more noisy than Aggiland was!

After two nights there we then moved over to the Marino Road RV park and will be here a week until the 6th. The picture below of Marino looks pretty good but we have the only concrete pad in the place and in the rain it is a mud hole. Pretty bare and unimproved sites with 99% full time mobile home type units.

On the 6th we will move back to Aggiland until the 18th of December. On the 6th as well, Jo-Anne will again be back to the dentist. She has had persistent problems with a single tooth and Thursday it will finally be extracted. After that we will look at the options for replacing it including an implant $$$.