Yea!!! Peculiar!

 Our first leg of the trip is done and it went very well. Jefferson to Peculiar MO and we are in the Peculiar RV Park that we have stayed in many times. We had forgotten that the road to Amanda and Brad's place leaves a lot to be desired. It had been so long since it was last determined bad that I figured it just had to be repaired by now! I was wrong so at the last minute I called this park and luck would have it they had one, I tell you ONE site, for one I tell you, ONE night. But it has all worked out and we will be here for 3 days, leaving Monday morning as originally planned. Funny how these things can fall into place. There would have been a time that this would have been a high-stress day for me. But I have come a long, long way. These days it is nearly impossible to find an RV site without a reservation made at least a month in advance. And yet? It all worked out.

Don't Give Up...

...on me. We have been knee-deep in the process of getting ready for the annual trek to south Texas. It is a two-part system as we will undo the process again next Spring on our return. Oddly, we look forward to both events, but we are also glad when the bulk of this is done. We are at that point for the fall part of it.

I feel more ready this time than ever. We have had plenty of time to think about any items we may have forgotten and feel certain the list will not be long. Last season Butch forgot his wide-brimmed golf hat and it bugged him all winter, every time he played golf.

We are very much looking forward to the trip as well as the destination. Butch enjoys driving the MoHo and we will be seeing our Missouri kids and due to distance that doesn't happen nearly enough. 

Our next 'looking forward to seeing' is our Canyon Lake TX friends, Terry and Lisa Linder. We met Terry and Lisa at Snow Mountain Ranch when we were full-timers and volunteering there. Sometimes you just click with people and Terry and Lisa fall into that category. They have stayed in our RV spot and had fun with us here in Jefferson and we have stayed in their extra RV spot at Canyon Lake and had fun there.

And the next looking forward to is seeing our friends in the RGV. Too many to mention.

And I must add the "going away" events in Jefferson have been equally enjoyable. Leo and Keri take very good care of us all year and they always send us off by entertaining our friends and our friends always look forward to it. Anytime you can enjoy the food that Keri has prepared is a good day.

Mickey and I have talked for about 3 hours today!! Not all at once, thank god! But that sure takes me back to our teen years. Maybe even before, since we have been friends since 3rd grade.

Time for a break and pool at 4:00

Comparison

Last Spring when we arrived home our pool hall looked like this:

And now it looks like this. It will not have any additional items added. If anything, items will be removed.

Yippy-Skippy

 I slept the best last night than in more than a week. I have climbed the mountain, really a hill, and I can see the top from here! Butch and I are pretty well packed up and ready to go. It feels like we have a free week. 

We plan to celebrate brother Leo's birthday on the 12th. My Grandma Z's birthday was the 11th and we always had a party for her so it feels right to celebrate this time of year.

Thursday we will wrap things up and leave for Missouri early in the day on Friday. Our first stop will be at Brad and Amanda's in Harrisonville. We look forward to seeing our Missouri kids, Gary, Susan, Amanda, Brad, Elise, and little Leo who is a lot less little than he used to be. He is 8 now and filled with an abundance of information!

Last season while in the Rio Grande Valley we felt very safe as protocol was strictly followed for everyone's safety with the pandemic. I was surprised and pleased to see that it still is! See the Magnolia blog: https://magnolianews.blogspot.com/2021/10/news-from-mabel-zoet.html A big THANKS to Deon for keeping up with what is happening with our Magnolia friends. From the sounds of it, we should be getting there sooner rather than later. Not all of Texas is as diligent as the Rio Grande Valley.

I heard from a highly intelligent science/doctor (as if that carries any weight) that we will be looking at an Endemic, meaning that this virus will never go away. The window is past where we could have stopped it in its tracks so now we must live with it for decades. It will be like the flu, perhaps deadlier and we will need boosters every year.