Bill & Jo Brooker of Heber Springs AR sent these pictures of the beauty of fall on the river at their Arkansas home.

Colleen and Jim Clopton, friends of ours from Jefferson Iowa, our home town, had this poster in a frame on their wall and they were gracious enough to share. It means something to all us girls from Jefferson Iowa!!

Passport Questions: The passport question has been arising with our friends heading south for the winter. Here is official word on the subject. Q. When will the travel initiative be implemented?
In the proposed implementation plan, the initiative will be implemented in two phases. The proposed timeline will be as follows:
January 8, 2007 ? Passports, Merchant Mariner Documents (MMDs) or NEXUS Air cards would be required for all air travel from within the Western Hemisphere for citizens of the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Bermuda. This is a change from the previously scheduled date of January 1, in order to accommodate holiday travel.
January 1, 2008 ? It is anticipated that on January 1, 2008, U.S. citizens traveling between the U.S. and Canada, Mexico, Central and South America, the Caribbean, and Bermuda by land or sea (including ferries), may be required to present a valid U.S. passport or other documents as determined by the Department of Homeland Security. While recent legislative changes may permit a later deadline, both the Departments of State and Homeland Security are working to put all requirements in place by the original deadline. Advance notice will be provided to enable the public meet the land/sea border requirement.

In Iowa they have what they call 10 perfect days. There are days that are perfect and I think Iowa is only allowed ten. I say that with tongue in cheek. Today south Texas is having a perfect day. The humidity is low, the sky is clear, winds are 0 to 5 mph and the temperature is 78 degrees. I do not know how many perfect days Texas is allowed but I think it is more than ten...they are so big ya know.;-)

Our winter residence

 
 
  

Yesterday was doctor day and cleaning day and a general taking care of business day. It went smooth. Butch cleaned on the outside while I was doing the inside. Supposed to be warm today and my plans are to continue the cleaning process. I got about a third done yesterday.
Butch has been either playing pool or cribbage in the evenings...sometimes both! I am getting another Swedish weaving project done in the evenings.
We have returned to our routine of daily walks.
They have had a lot of rain this summer and so it is very lush and green
everywhere. We went by a grapefruit orchard and the grapefruit are green! We
had never seen that before. They always tell us the juiciness of the
grapefruit depends on the moisture they have had so they should be extra
juicy this year.

Sandcastle Days

 
 
 
  

Saturday's Pictures

 
 
 
  

We have arrived in the deep south of Texas and it is warm. Nicely so at 72 degrees. Our friends who travel to this neck of the woods will be unhappy to learn that we are still dealing with construction...lots of construction on business 83. The good news is, it is further east of us than it was last year.
Those coming down in something that runs on diesel fuel may like to know that we filled up at the Shell station in Kingsville for $2.27.9 That is the cash price which is 6 cents lower than the regular price. There is an ATM at the station. The Shell station is located on the east side of highway 77 on the south edge of Kingsville.
Also remember that there is a new code for the gate this year. I am reminding you because we forgot about it. I can't give it to you here but look up the letter you received about it before you head down...or ask some kind friend with a memory.;-)
Today went much better than yesterday. Great traveling weather and we listened to a good audio book on the way which helps the time fly by. We are enjoying 'The Keeper of the House' by Shirley Ann Grau very much. "Abigail was the last keeper of the house, the last to know the Howland family's secrets. Now, in the name of all her brothers and sisters, she must take her bitter revenge on the small-minded Southern town that shamed them, persecuted them, but could never destroy them. Shirley Ann Grau is a major American author whose works are often set in New Orleans and Louisiana's Creole region. She often reflects the isolated bayous and their French-speaking residents, but her fiction is equally at home with the fiercely independent people of small Southern towns or the sophisticated life of the New Orleans' upper class. The Keepers of the House won her the Pulitzer Prize in 1965."
I have been a member of www.audible.com for many years and always get much enjoyment from my membership. If you check it out and plan to join, let me know so I can send you an invitation. I would need to send you an invitation for me to get credit. Regardless whether you join or not an audio book is always a good idea for those long lonely stretches of highway.
We are here plenty early and it is apparent as we look around the park but Butch needs to get a blood draw on Monday and get reacquainted with his south Texas doctor. We also know it will not be long now before all our old friends and some new ones will trickle into the park and we will be here to warmly greet them.

We have had a day we would like to forget! First off we tangled with a toll gate on the Indian Nations Turnpike and it will be the last trip on that piece of crap for a highway. When they charge mucho dineros for traveling on a road it should be as smooth as a babies behind and it is definitely more like a wrinkled old granny fanny. All of Oklahoma's roads are like a granny fanny and our future plans are to avoid the entire state if possible. We have damage on the passenger side front of the motorhome and if that wasn't enough we were hit by a rock kicked up by an oncoming semi. It is the worst rock ding we have ever had. It looks like it was darn lucky it didn't come on through.
So tonight we are in Rockdale Texas at the Hidden Valley Oaks RV park, one we have stayed in before and liked. We have chili simmering on the stove and we are quite happy to be off the road for this day.
We are grateful for many things today...the motorhome still runs...we are both healthy and we will keep dwelling on those things as we always do and try to forget this high stress day.;-)

In Mizzou

We are in Peculiar MO until Wednesday then we are headed south. We take our time so it is hard to say when we will arrive at our winter playground location. I have been watching the weather down there and it looked like they were getting daily rains so I wrote to Don Loring and he said yes, that is pretty much it. Humid too!! So it looks like we will soon be back in weather that resembles Iowa in July. Oh well, that is what we love about the south.

On the Road Again

Today we are headed south for a visit with the Missouri kids.
The doctor visits went well but then we insisted that they would. We will continue with health maintenance when we get to south Texas.
The temperatures the past three nights have been in the twenties which is perfect weather. Perfect for packing up and heading out. So it is goodbye for now to many old friends and see ya'all soon to others. 

Nature equals beautiful



















View from Berniece and Dr. Keith Swanson's home 

For all those who are asking, Butch is great. I cannot believe how well he is doing. We are walking at least two miles a day with weather permitting. Also trying to get last minute visiting in before we head south next Saturday. The weather forecast makes us wish we could head out sooner but we also have to get two different doctor visits out of the way...one on Thursday and another on Friday. I plan to wear my heavy coat.;-) Butch looks good and feels good and is not having problems of any kind. If it weren't for that lengthy scar on his tummy you would never know he had surgery. So...we are very grateful for all the good fortune we have been blessed with in the past and look forward to many more blessings in the future. A million thanks for all the helpful thoughts and prayers that came our way.

Silos&Smokestacks National Heritage Area

Butch and I saw a sign on I-80 near Des Moines and decided to check it out since we knew nothing about it. More places to explore in our own backyard!
Silos&Smokestacks National Heritage Area

At Jefferson Ia

Great picture of the blimp at Jefferson Iowa. Taken by Leo Brooker Thanks for sending it Leo! 

Goodyear Blimp

Butch and I are both from Jefferson Iowa and I have received many emails from numerous people about the Goodyear blimp making a visit to Jefferson. You can also read about it and see pictures at www.offenburger.com. And it must have flown north-northwest over Rockwell City Iowa when it left Jefferson because my sis Myrla was able to get this picture. The following email is from Lois Brant of Jefferson, a long,long time friend of ours.: "If you would like to see the excitement in Jefferson last week go to Google and type in Goodyear Blimp Jefferson Iowa lots of articles about the visit. It was a real kick for the town. We could get up close enough to touch it and could talk forever with the crew members. Wonderful experience for all. Limited space for riders (6) so a few people got to make the trip. Free BBQ every night and free donuts in the mornings. And it made a stop at the Homecoming football game.
Small towns do have fun. "

Sweet Dreams

Yellow monk's cloth with Red Heart sage,white and pink yarn. Venice pattern with the sweet dreams done with loop stitch. The end rows I nearly always improvise and I did so in this case.