Last night on the road, this time.

Well, we're in Las Cruces, NM for the night but getting here today was the most fun.  We left Amarillo, TX about 7 am and drove for two hours till it was 8 am in Clovis, NM.  Then headed south.  IL plains have nothing on NM flat land.  Wow, you could see nothing for ever except  BNSF trains filled with coal cars and piggy back  semis and inter modal shipping containers. Roswell, NM was our next stop.  We weren't interested in the UFO stuff so we stopped at the visitors center and fell into a great FREE Museum on the same property.  It had exhibits of a man who made and carved the most beautiful guns.  400 to over 600 hours of carving on every one.  Then there was an exhibit of a rocket maker who moved to Roswell so he had room to experiment shooting them off AND he was a friend of Charles Lindberg who helped him.  We stopped in Ruidoso, NM for lunch.  When we looked out the window of Denny's it was snowing.  Wasn't sticking but that was a false sense of security.  The farther down the road the more Casinos we saw and the more snow along the side of the road.  It never got real bad.  Then we came along by White Sands National Monument and decided to stop and take a look.  Thanks to our senior citizens National Parks Pass we got to see it for free.  It was a self tour of 8 miles round trip.  The gypsum that looks so much like snow was beautiful since it wasn't snow.  LOL  We ended up driving off the roadway and just driving on it.  We had to get out and take pictures of each other standing next to a dune.  It felt like really fine sand.  They were going to have a moonlight walk later on but we had places to go.

Sunday Afternoon etc.....

3:30 pm on a Sunday afternoon and we pull into a motel for the night.  Ummmm, wonder why so early, could it have anything to do with football?  Maybe it was because we'd been on the road since 6:30 am this morning?
Well, what ever the real reason is, we're in a motel room in Amarillo, TX for the night.  
Tomorrow's destination is Los Cruises, NM.  Hopefully that will be a shorter day with time to stop and check out some things along the way.  Landing at CCRV, Tucson, AZ is scheduled for Tuesday. 
Which reminds me.  Just got an email from one of Ron's foster brother, Dan.  As you probably all know he was on Wheel of Fortune this summer but couldn't tell us how he did except he didn't ask Pat "I gotta P".  The show he was on is supposed to be broadcast Tuesday, Nov 30th.  You'll have to check your local paper to find out the time.  Can't wait to see him on TV.  Hope he did well.  

Saturday after Thanksgiving.

We're on the road again. Heading for AZ.  Spending the night in Springfield, MO.  What do you think the chances are that I'll run into Brad Pitt without Angie and the kids?  That's what I thought.  Oh well, if I found him, I probably wouldn't know what to do with him.  LOL
Today went well, chilly but the sun was bright and warm.  The van is a much better vehicle for long trips than a 3/4 ton diesel truck.  Conned Ron into stopping at a Cracker Barrel for lunch so I'm not hungry for supper but when I am, I'm going to have a delicious turkey sandwich and cranberry salad.
Ron's enjoying unlimited TV channels with a "clean" remote.  That's what the remote holder said, "clean" remote.

Friday after Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving day was great.....great company AND great food.  Food would have been a bit better if I hadn't done/or not done something to the noodles when I made them but it was obvious they were not going to be used.
The turkey was sweet and juicy and easy to cut with Elizabeth's twin to my knife that Ron bought us this summer.  Cranberry salad turned out good, as usual, with Ron's secret ingredient.  The lima beans were cooked to perfection as was the corn that Elizabeth and Alan cut off the cob and froze themselves.  There was even left over potatoes, not because they weren't delicious but because Elizabeth and Nick peeled enough that even Eric (Alejandro) couldn't eat them all.  Everything was cooked perfectly and ready at the same time so that all of us, including Eric's friend Katie, could set down and enjoy.  Enjoy we did, that house was never so quiet.
Ron and Alan pitched in and helped clean up the kitchen so Elizabeth could take a break.
We all enjoyed a slice of her home made pumpkin pie and a cup of delicious coffee, relaxed for a while and then headed home so Oliver and Gracie could come out and enjoy their home again.
Thanks Betsy for one of the best Thanksgivings I've had in a long time.

Another Day in Lockport

We survived yesterday's 29 degree eye opener and two more trips to grocery stores.  A trip to the Moose allowed us to watch Dancing With the Stars on one TV and The Good Wife on another.  But watch was about all we could do with other TVs playing football and basketballs games and the regular noises there wasn't much listening done.  We did get to see a couple of old friends.  It's been so long since we've been there and so many of our friends have died or became seriously ill or moved away that there were a lot of "new" faces for us. We miss them all.

Today is cranberry salad and home made noodle day.  Sure wish we had TV so Ron would sit down and rest up for the drive back.  He's cleaning gutters this morning (only the one story roofs)

Lockport, IL

Well, we made it back to Lockport.  Poor Ron, what a drive today.  It started out from Joplin, MO doing fine and then it turned windy all the way across Missouri but when we crossed the Big Muddy into IL it got dark and rained and rained and rained all the way home.  Driving thru Springfield and Bloomington was quite a feat but my guy did it.  To reward him, when we got home, I jumped into the van and backed out of the garage leaving him to unload the truck while I went to the grocery store.  My timing was perfect, by the time I got home with some needed staples he was done.  It will feel good to just relax for a few days before we head back.  I know Ron needs it.

Trip back to IL

Well, since we decided to leave our 5th wheel at CCRV all year instead of pulling it back and forth to IL and park it in our driveway for the summer, we decided to bring the pickup back to IL and pick up the van for the remainder of the time we're out there this year.
I don't know why we picked the week of Thanksgiving but we did so we're on our way.  Last night was in Santa Rosa, NM and tonight is in Joplin, MO and home tomorrow, we hope.  We usually stay at Best Westerns and did last night and tonight.  The one in Santa Rosa couldn't have been any more perfect.  The room was large and clean and the sheets were soft and comfortable.  I don't know why we decided to stay at this one in Joplin.  We stayed here two years ago and swore we would never again.  Well it was where we wanted to stop so we decided to give it another try.  The room is small, single sink with small counter.  No frig or microwave, as
promised and we WILL deal with that issue.  One chair in the room and barking dog outside.  Not conducive to rest and relaxation.  We'll both be glad to get to Lockport and make other overnight plans for our return trip.

Yard Sale Day

Today was yard sales at Cactus Country.  Carol and Ed across the way are selling one of their trailers so they emptied it out.  I think they did pretty well.  Sure looked like a lot less stuff tonight than last night.  I only walked around our section and besides Carol and Ed the other two were selling their home made baked potato bags, dish rags and crocheted dollies.  Nothing I couldn't make myself.  There was word that someone had a bike for sale but when I checked it out it was a man's mountain bike and way to tall for me.  Usually the yard sale is in the spring only but this worked out well.  They posted signs at the entrance on Houghton so they got a lot of traffic.  Ron has been busy making our site permanent and the RV as stable as he can.  Today one of the guys came over and told him where to put some boards and jacks.
The best part of today was breakfast.  Just as I was getting ready to get out the cereal and bagel one of the neighbors came over with two breakfast burritos still hot off the stove and a container of home made green salsa to use on them.  Ummmy ! ! !

Winter Home

One step closer to making this our winter home.  We bought a shed from the park today and it's already on our site.  Ron's out sweeping and cleaning.  He got a couple of drier sheets and put inside so it would smell better.  I have a feeling next is a small freezer to put inside and a trip to Home Depot or Lowes for the necessities needed to whip it into shape.  That's ok.  It'll keep him busy for a few days.
It feels good.

Sunshine and Wind

It's a beautiful day in Tucson, AZ.  It's 77 degrees at 9:21 am and the breezes are blowing with attitude.  All my plants that I brought with are enjoying the weather.  How do I know that?  They are standing straight and tall and the chenille plant has dozens of cute red fuzzies.  
Since yesterday was Sweet Tomatoes, today is stay home and start making the place look like it.  Got pictures to put on the walls and nicknack's to put out.  It will definitely look more like a home by the end of the day.
Lasagna thawing out for supper and some good Milano bread in the freezer ready to be taken out and butter and garlic added, then heated to a golden brown.
Yes, last night was bingo night but I didn't win nor did I come close but that's ok.

Tucson Day One

It's 8:10 am and 68 degrees in Tucson this morning.  Beautiful gentle breezes and sunshine.  Wish the weather would stay like this all season but it's going to get warmer today, that's a fact.  We arrived before noon but took most of the afternoon setting up and talking to friends that it took all afternoon to finish up.  A nice dilemma.
We're still on IL time.  Ron was up at 4:30 am and I slept in till 6:30 am.  After a second attempt to make coffee we ate a bowl of cereal and then at 9am over to the Rec Room for coffee and donuts.  It was great seeing old friends that were already here but we didn't win the 50/50.  Oh well, got all winter.  10:30 was a short quilting meeting and then after lunch Ron and I took off for Wal Mart in Green Valley.  Back home one of our neighbors stopped by to let us know her park home is still for sale.  Tempting??????
Then a quiet evening at home watching the Will County election results on the internet.  Sheriff's race is way to close.  Probably won't know who wins until they count the absentee votes.  Well that took all day, it's 8:10 pm.