Visiting Missouri Kids

Amanda and Brad fixed supper for us and then we went for a walk.


Amanda and Brad have a new puppy. Eva Noel was born on Christmas eve. We have here a family photo of Amanda holding Eva and Brad holding Shelley Belle.

Susan holding Eva

Posts aplenty

I have been busy posting pictures from our trip across the south. If I put them all on here at once it would take FOR...EVER. We left the park in Texas on April 1 and have been moving pretty steadily ever since. It has been a fun and memorable trip.
Today we were able to get our MoHo fixed and will be moving on again tomorrow. We stayed here at Big Cabin for one more night due to wind. It IS Oklahoma!

I made doctor appointments for all of us including Angel. So we will spending some time with our Lees Summit kids and then mosey on north to Lake Anita where spring will be in full bloom. We hope!!
Our stop at the doctors should be brief and then we will be in Jefferson for a short time before heading for Colorado.
Try to keep up!!! hehehe

Grandpa Rich and sleeping Nina

Rich and Donna

We had a great visit with our Georgia family.

Ann, Anthony and Nina

Interesting?

Walk along the beach

at Long Beach Mississippi. A great place to take a walk.

Dutch and Lum's Party Boat

Dutch and Lum share ownership of the party boat and they entertain friends with trips up and down the Wolf River and into the Bay of St Louis. There is a potty on this party boat. Good thing too!!!

Lum and Donna's Mississippi Home

Lum and Donna's home in Mississippi. These are the "outbuildings" Their NEW motorhome is not totally visible in these shots but you can see a portion of it next to Lum's greenhouse.

Love my duck!

Lum planted my duck with a white geranium. I think he looks quite handsome. Thanks Lum

Woodpecker

Taken at the Stephen Austin State Park near Houston.

On the board walk at Palacio

We visited for awhile with these RVers and their dog Blue.

From Palacios Pictures

These pictures are from my Palacio 2009 collection. One is a discarded piece of rope from one of the shrimp boats and the second one is ocean front property in Palacio. There are some beautiful homes there.

Mad Dash

We are in the middle of a mad dash for Big Cabin OK to get the moho serviced. When we left Magnolia Park we started noticing an oily smell whenever we stopped. Butch saw evidence of oil in the wheel well. We knew not where it came from. Butch finally called the servicing people in Big Cabin and it was determined to be a faulty wheel hub seal. He said we could safely make the trip to Oklahoma for repair if we made sure we replenished the oil in the hub periodically. We have done that. We should arrive in Big Cabin tomorrow and it will be a relief to get the repairs done and servicing at the same time.
The traveling has been great. We have finished listening to The Gatehouse by Nelson DeMille. Tomorrow we start on The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett. I have read the book but enjoyed it enough to listen to it along with Butch. The miles really fly by when otherwise entertained by listening to a book.
I am way behind in posting. My plan is to backtrack a bit and do some posts on New Orleans and Pass Christian. Lum & Donna and then the Georgia kids, grandkids and GREATgranddaughter!!

Baby Nina Grace

Just as cute as her mama.

Connection issues

My connection (Verizon) here is not the greatest. It takes a long time to upload a photo. It eventually works but when it comes to slow internet my patience wanes. This is really a great park here in Moultrie Georgia. We are next to an Industrial Park and a small airport so lots of area for walking. We have two cows, Ribeye and T-Bone, a goat named Gazelda, free range chickens, 3 ducks and dogs that are leashed and/or penned...And kids who spend most of their days outdoors playing or working, a refreshing sight. The kids are either on spring break or home schooled not sure which. Yesterday they were pulling weeds out of the creek that runs through the park. I would guess the two hardest workers are 7 and 9.
I found this place by googling RV parks in Moultrie GA. It is a jewel. No pun intended.
Our kids are working hard to make ends meet and thus we do not get to see them often but we make good use of our time together when we can. Tomorrow we play golf in Thomasville.
I take pictures of Baby Nina at every opportunity and will continue to do so. I would like to get pictures of the grownups too.
So I think today I will catch up on laundry and perhaps wash windows.
Till next time...

More Nina

From Moultrie GA

Nina Grace and her Grandpa Rich

Intended

We intended to be on the road today but due to a line of heavy thunderstorms and a lot of rain last night we are waiting another day. The beauty of being retired! So Lum and Donna have us for another day.

Yesterday we enjoyed Easter dinner with a group of people from their park. It was a potluck type of meal and I was fortunate enough to be able to sample Crawfish Pie. And it was yummy!!


After the meal and an afternoon of watching the Masters we played with Lum and Donna's Wii. So last night we golfed, bowled and played Bridge. It was a very full evening!!

The Party Boat

Dutch and Lum own a boat together. It has been labeled "The Party Boat". While out in the boat we spotted an eagle's nest and the eagle! A real treat.

Friends Lum and Donna

We are staying with our friends Lum and Donna in Pass Christian MS, near New Orleans for those who wonder. Tomorrow we are headed to Georgia to see our oldest son Rich and family.

New Orleans Experience

While Lum and Donna were at the hospital getting Lums first chemo treatment Butch and I held down the fort at their place AND went to New Orleans with Dutch, a longtime friend of Lums and Dutch's relatives visiting from Holland, Jelmer and Alie Kuipers. We had met Dutch at Snow Mountain Ranch where he is also a volunteer.
We had a great time getting acquainted with the city. It is charming, no two ways about it. The people are friendly and outgoing and the streets are clean. There is evidence of the homeless but that is a nationwide thing.

Katrina's aftermath is still in evidence but they have come a long way from the dreadful scenes we all saw on tv. One of the things Donna told me was that the birds left after Katrina and they returned just this year, four years later!

We noticed a street musician trying to herd a young injured bird into a box before it was run over on the busy street. The young musician told me that Jesus says we will be judged by how we treat the least among us so he wanted to do something for the bird. I helped him herd the bird into the box and he decided the least he could do for it was to move it to a location less traveled and asked me to watch his CD's while he did so. I was happy to do that.
In the cathedral I noticed a shabby man saying his prayers and wanted to get his photo. I did but unfortunately he caught me doing so. I hope his prayers were answered.
We had cafe au lait (coffee with boiled milk) and beignets (pronounced bin-yay) early in the day. A beignet is a doughnut/sweetbread type dough that is deep fried then doused liberally with powdered sugar.
For lunch we had red beans and rice with Italian sausage. It was a house specialty of the restaurant and a typical New Orleans meal.
Still later we had a pralines...hey, we were on vacation!!!
Lum is home now and resting and so are we from our big day.

New Orleans 2009 Slideshow

Click on the picture to take you to the slideshow. Fullscreen is available...look on bottom left. Hit ESC key to get back regular screen.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

We are in Pass Christian Mississippi at the home of Lum and Donna Ellis friends of ours we met at Snow Mountain Ranch YMCA of the Rockies. Lum and Donna have been volunteers at Snow Mountain Ranch for the past 15 summers but will miss this year because Lum finds himself in the middle of a battle with stomach cancer. He will be going for his first round of chemo tomorrow. We will not ask anything of Lum and will try to pick up the slack for him on his chores around here. Lum did say it will give him a chance to plant a garden this summer and he has already started on it.

Big Woodpecker

Taken at Stephen Austin State Park near Sealy TX

Exit 121

We are at exit 121 in Louisiana- near Lafayette. Butch is struggling with the satellite for Direct TV. Every now and then when we move we have a problem. We were in amongst a bunch of trees at Stephen Austin State Park and every time we have a tree problem we subsequently have a sattelite problem... Oh well, this too shall pass.
Tomorrow we get to see our good friends Lum and Donna and that will be a fun time.

This place we are staying( Welcome Center) is a boondock situation but they are kind enough to let us stay. Earlier today we went to a Wal-Mart and they had all the entrances fixed to be unavailable to RV's. Needless to say we didn't spend any time or money there. Lousiana I-10 isn't too bad. It was worse in East Texas.
Till next time...

Tight Parking

With these boats parked so close together I cannot imagine how they get them out. We leave today for Stephen Austin State Park located about 20 miles west of Houston. This allows us a shot at getting through Houston on a Sunday morning. The park is only 92 miles from where we are so we are not in a big hurry to get going. We will not have Internet there so won't hear from me again till sometime Sunday.

As Promised

Cosmetic Surgery on Capt. G.C.


It looks to be a beautiful day- sun shining-light breeze-cool temperatures so today the plan is to get some pictures on the pretty side of town. Along with washing sheets and working on a new Swedish weaving afghan for a September wedding.
Butch found a little Mexican restaurant yesterday so we had lunch there. Chicken quesadillas and they were delicious. So today I had my usual toast for breakfast but he decided to try the breakfast tacos at Maricellas. He said they were huge,delicious and cheap ($2.00)

Palacio TX

We arrived in Palacio yesterday afternoon without incident and we will be here 3 days. We remembered why we prefer Palacio over Rockport as a stopping place. It is the walking! Palacio has a beautiful little park with a walkway built along the coast. It is about a mile and 1/4 long. Perfect for the morning and evening walk. Last night we ate at the seafood restaurant that is a favorite. It lived up to our expectations too. We both had catfish fillets.
It is cloudy today with a severe thunderstorm watch...not the ideal time to take photos but I do hope to get some soon.

Child's Napghan

Finished this one the other day and took a picture of it before giving it to Norma to enter in the Clay County Fair for me. We head out tomorrow for Palacio TX. A stop we have made before and like.

By Request

Recipe: Marble Bars 3/29/2009
Category: Snacks
Author: Barb Brooker


1 c White Sugar
1 c Corn Syrup
1 c Peanut Butter
6 c Rice Krispies
1 c Chocolate Chips

[Note: I add a little more cereal than 6 cups. Personal choice.]
Combine sugar and syrup in heavy saucepan. Over medium heat bring to
the boiling point but do not boil. Remove from heat and add peanut
butter to syrup mixture; stir till combined. Pour over rice krispies;
stir till covered; add chocolate chips and stir for marbled effect.
Press into a 9 x 13 pan. cool and cut into squares.

In Ol' Mexico

There is one store in Progreso that sells some craft supplies. The yarn is $1.25 a skein. I purchased three skeins to give it a try. It was nice to the touch. Appears to be two-ply but the ply's are heavy. They also have a large supply of embroidery floss.

Pecan Bill and Norma otherwise known as Pinky are having a discussion in Elsa's.

Thoughts of leaving

As the end of March is upon us we start to think about our trip away from Magnolia Park. Just as I always look forward to arriving I also look forward to departing and moving on to see other people, places and things.
We leave the park April 1st and will go to Palacios TX for a couple of days and then to Stephen Austin State Park and then through Houston on Sunday morning and then we will go to Pass Christian MS to see friends from Snow Mountain Ranch, Lum & Donna for a few days and then to Moultrie GA for awhile and then we shall most likely head north. Do not have any firm set plans for length of stay in MS or GA. We need to get our annual doctoring done in Iowa late April or May and then be at Snow Mountain Ranch by June 1st. I imagine a chunk of April and May will be spent parked at Leo's. But I am getting ahead of myself. It is a beautiful day here with light breezes and warm temps. Big fluffy clouds in the sky. Laundry is nearly done and getting close to lunch time.

Keep Movin On....

I have the GPS out again and am working with it again to see if I can justify the money spent on it again. We went to McAllen the other day and I took it with me just for fun. While waiting on an appointment I programmed it for our return trip. There is nothing like setting it up for failure when you are in familiar territory and know how it is messing up. I had programmed it for the town of Donna. We live on the edge of the city limits east of Donna so I knew we were going to pass our turn...the one programmed into it and we did. The GPS had us going clear to the next town to turn around. I told Butch that if we had been in an unfamiliar area we would now be having an argument over the darn thing. It simply cannot be trusted. I view it as a very expensive toy nothing more. The screen is too small and too dark too. Now before I paid big bucks for this tiny little thing I had used the one I have with the computer. The screen is bigger and it works much better. The downside here is it is bulky and I have to find a place to set it where I can keep it from falling and still see it. I am going back to this method on our trip out of the valley. Butch likes to know the elevation as we travel along. Like I said, it is a toy.

Apple Pie!!

Yesterday we went to Harlingen to visit with Marlene and Bernard. Marlene cooked us a scrumptious roast beef dinner with apple pie for dessert. Then we enjoyed an afternoon of cribbage and the guys were too, too lucky.

Ethan's Latest

There are some great pictures here of the handsome boy but that last one might find it's way around the Internet. Just think of the captions that could be added! Look below for one that comes to mind.

 

 

 

 

PHRRRT!!!!