May 17, 2009

We are in Las Vegas!! We left the 5th wheel in Smith Center, KS at the Excel Factory for warranty repairs. Had an uneventful trip from Texas to Kansas. Did stop at a great park in just south of Salina, KS. So pretty, on a small lake with REALLY big sites.

After visiting with the service department at the factory, showing them all of our problems, storing the little trailer with the scooter and boat, we took off in the Jeep for Las Vegas. Nice slow trip with lots of stops along the way (4 corners, etc). Stopped at Alamosa NWR to see where we will be working this summer...really anxious to get started! Saw some great old barns and cool old cars.

This should be a fun trip as we are meeting long time friends here. Cathy was my best friend in high school. SO MUCH FUN!

May 11, 2009

Left Lampasas, TX right on schedule. Had breakfast with our "not yet awake grumpy" grand-daughter and her Mom & Dad. After hugs & kisses to last for few months, she headed for school and we went back to the RV park to finish last minute preparation to leave. We were on the road by 9:15 am.

Lots of rain, some quite heavy, as we headed north. We sailed thru Ft. Worth with little traffic. YEA!! Still don't like pulling my house thru big cities but no problems. With one last look, we bid good ole Texas good-bye for awhile. We stopped at Thackerville, OK. for the night. It was an early stop due to the rain and high winds. We don't have to be in KS (at the Excel factory) until Friday so plenty of time. Tomorrow will be another light travel day as we plan to stop in Guthrie, OK and go back into OK City in the jeep. Want to see the memorial and see if the hospital I was born in is still standing.

May 10, 2009

We have had a great last 2 weeks!! We left Fentress, TX on April 26, 2009 making a roundabout (many stops) journey to our next job at Alamosa, CO NWR. We made an overnight trip to Brackettville, TX to visit my 90+ year old parents. LONG, LONG story but they decided they would rather be down there near friends than close to any family. Then 2 weeks at a Georgetown, TX COE park. Had great visits with all of our kids and grandkids. Had lunch with all the grandkids at school; however, I am not so sure the 7th graders really wanted us there!! Got watch our oldest grandson's basketball tournament and to celebrate our grand-daughter's 9th birthday with her. Tomorrow (May 11th) we will start north. YEAH!!! ON THE ROAD AGAIN!

April 15, 2009

Road trip day!! We drove to Galveston to check out the cleanup and restoration progress. Things are looking pretty good, considering! We continued up the beach to Surfside....WOW!! Still a big portion of the highway is washed out... had to drive on the beach for several miles...didn't have go into 4 Wheel Drive because the sand is so packed due to many, many people driving on the sand.

We went on to Brazoria NWR to see if the pavilion Mike worked on last winter survived Hurricane Ike. IT DID!!! We were too late to see any one we worked with last winter but did tour the refuge. There is almost NO water in the marshes so not many birds. The Sandhill Crane count was way down this year because of the water situation. Hard to believe they had a major hurricane and still have no water.

April 14, 2009

We survived the campout....WOW!! We had kids, grandkids and their friends around the last 4 days...so much energy but SO MUCH fun!!! Besides our group, friends of our kids from childhood we able to join them for the campout. There were 6 young families here this weekend. Hard to believe that our kids and their friends have teenage kids...seems like yesterday we were the young parents taking our kids camping.

April 9, 2009

We are finished with our 4 days of work and are off for the next 9 days. The kids and grandkids are joining us for an Easter weekend campout. Unfortunately, Tim has to leave early to get Zach back to Vicki. At least, we will get to see all of them and enjoy some fun time with each!! If the weather cooperates, we plan to go tubing on the San Marcos river. Spring time weather in Texas is very unpredictable but brings all of our SO VERY pretty wild flowers.

April 6, 2009

Whew!!! Another long day at work..HaHa. Actually, it is very tiring to make busy work for 8 hours. We have 2 more days to work this week...off for 9 days....work 4 days and we are finished here. We are going to spend a week in Georgetown with Tan and family, then a week in Lampasas with both boys and families, then off to Smith Center, Kansas to the Excel factory for warranty work. While the RV is in the shop, we are going to meet friends Jim & Cathy Brockamp in Las Vegas. Should be fun!!! After we pick up our RV, we head for Alamosa, CO to work at Alamosa NWR for the summer. We get to work with Floyd again. He was the refuge manager we worked for at Brazoria NWR...a great guy!!! Really looking forward to this summer.