Mexico

Today we went to Nuevo Progreso, to Jessica's Place, to celebrate G.W.'s upcoming birthday. On his actual birthday, December 7, he and David will be on their way to a cruise of the Hawaiian Islands. G.W. has never been to Hawaii, and David was there in 1969, so they'll have lots to discover. We were glad that Bob and Pat were able to join us. Pat had her chemo port removed this morning (yay!), and the process turned out to be quicker and easier than they had expected.

Pat and Bob, Steve, Lee, G.W., David, Judy, Jan, and Hardy.

Lee couldn't resist joining line dancers for Elvira

After drinks and munchies at Jessica's, we went to Old Town Restaurant for lunch. G.W. recommended the taco salad, so nearly everyone ordered that. The kitchen ran out of taco shell bowls, so some of us ended up with tostadas instead. Ken ordered chile relleno.

Lots of us went on to Ruben's for pedicures, eyebrow waxing, and hair cuts. Ken had his head shaved, finally joining Steve and Hardy and some of our other friends--as well as his son, Jeff. We all thought it looked really handsome, but it might take a while for him to adjust to his new look, and to the breeze on his head.

Pat, Jan, and Steve enjoy pedicures and foot massages.

The selection of nail colors is labeled "finger paints."

 Handsome dude!

On the way home, we stopped in Donna to visit Venture. Here's the floor of the bedroom slide that was replaced. We were happy to hear that all the repairs should be done by Friday, so we'll be able to pick it up and move in to Bentsen Palm Village only one day late.

Jeff called to let us know he got a new motorcycle. He was so excited that he wanted to make sure we checked out the photo he emailed.

Jeff's new motorcycle
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Early Check-In

We drove over to Bentsen Palm Village this afternoon to let them know we'll be arriving after December 1 and to check in ahead of time. That way when we get Venture back, we can just drive in and hook up. We also stopped at the Solstar office to arrange for cable internet to be installed next Monday. We're excited at the prospect of moving in to our new home for the season.

This afternoon we went with Steve and Jan to Randy Dougherty's C-1 workshop/dance. We enjoyed it, but we aren't planning on going regularly. Our regular schedule includes four dances a week, which is just about enough for Ken.
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Venture to Mid Valley, Ken and Lee to Spauldings

We got up early this morning so we could pack up, hitch up, and take Venture to Mid Valley RV in Donna, TX, by 9:00 a.m. There we met Phil and went over our repair list. We had emailed with Phil but hadn't met him before. He was friendly and professional, making us feel good about trusting our home to his care. He made no guarantees, but said that he expected to have the work completed by Friday.

We said goodbye to Venture and headed to Mission, to Green Gate Grove, where we will be tenants in Steve and Jan's Texas room for the duration. They are wonderful hosts and had the room all ready for us. We moved in with all our bags and boxes and pillows and stuff and made ourselves at home. Then we went for a walk to scout out the neighborhood.

Our temporary home away from home...

Christmas decor in the neighborhood

After lunch we drove to Darryl's C-1 workshop at TVA (Tropical Valley Acres). Jan and Steve were there along with lots of our other dancing friends, including some we haven't seen for many months. It was good to touch base and trade hugs with folks we've been following mainly on Facebook for the summer.

Check out Rich's tee-shirt, Star Wars fans!

When we returned, we set out to walk before supper. The neighborhood is interesting, with lots of unique landscaping and decor.

One thing that really caught our eye as we walked along was a New Horizons fifth wheel with an Escapees logo. The owners were outside and immediately invited us for the 25 cent tour. We actually got much more than 25 cents worth!  We ended up staying to talk with Madeline and Jerry for over an hour. They are gracious hosts and enthusiastic about life, with plenty to share. They lived in Europe for sixteen years before retiring, returning to the States, and moving into a New Horizons.

We were interested to find many points of commonality. They have a 30 foot rig because they also like Forest Service and similar campgrounds, where they volunteer in the summers. They have solar panels, batteries and inverter similar to ours. They are Boomers and Escapees--and much more. We are so glad we've met them.
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More Wind!

A brisk north wind blew all day, snapping the flags about and waving the treetops. When we went out to walk, we bundled up and tried to protect our eyes from the blowing dust.

Our neighbors behaved very strangely. They were evidently trying to stabilize their TV dish, which the wind was disturbing. What made it odd is that they spent several hours at it. They added tie-downs. They struggled to point the dish. And they took turns standing outside in the wind holding the dish. We have no earthly idea what was going on. People do the darnedest things, and you get to observe lots of them in campgrounds and RV parks.

Our Qube was also displaced by the wind, but we just packed it up and put it away, along with everything else we had outside. It was a real trick taking up and folding our patio rug with the wind whipping it around, but we managed. However, the next time we unfold it, we'll have a job removing all the sand burrs that had stuck to the bottom side!

Tomorrow morning we'll take Venture in for repairs, so we spent today getting prepared. We had to remove everything from the bedroom slide, which meant relocating all the "stuff" we keep in the storage area under the bed and in the nightstands and overhead cabinets. Everything had to be relocated from the cabinets under the sinks too. Plus we had to pack for something like an extended camping trip: we'll be camped out in Spauldings' Texas room for the duration.

As Ken said, it's a good thing we have a big truck!
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Go, Big Blue!

Ken watched the Michigan/Ohio State game today. The arch-rivals met at the Big House. The Wolverines won, cheered on by masses of screaming fans waving yellow pom poms (it's a "Maize out!"), breaking a seven game losing streak.

Today was a mainly pleasant day, but the dark clouds gathered and the winds whistled through the park, bringing a few spattering drops of rain. Tonight the wind is wailing and buffeting our home, but we feel cozy inside.

We went to Lowe's today to return the kitchen faucet we bought earlier (the finish was already spotted). We bought a Moen faucet that we hope will work well for us for the kitchen. For the bath, we chose an American Standard.

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Happy Thanksgiving--or Is It Merry Christmas???

This morning on our walk we brought the camera along so we could get some photos of the flocks of butterflies feeding on a spectacular Betony Mistflower plant. All the dark spots on the first photo are actually queen butterflies, and there are lots of smaller butterflies and bees too.

We have been noticing our floor registers are showing some wear. The paint is chipped, and the edges are rusting. We actually bought some spray paint for them over a year ago (we're really good at procrastination!). Today we unscrewed all of them and sanded them. We used some rust remover/inhibitor on them. But we ended up not painting them, because it was just too windy.

This evening we drove over to Bentsen Palm Village, where we'll be spending December, January, and February in site #608. We're excited to have such a nice space. The 600 circle has concrete pads. Our site will be oriented with the front door and patio facing north, which will keep the interior much more comfortable. We stopped to look at the site and met our neighbors on both sides--really friendly folks. John and Susan in site #609 are fellow Escapees and full-timers. They hit the road in October 2007, only a few months before us.

We took our evening walk in the Bentsen Rio Grande Valley State Park (aka World Birding Center Headquarters). We were happy to see that the entire park is open again (after the floods of summer 2010). Also, the construction of flood gates at the levee is complete, so no need to thread your way around construction equipment to get into the park.

Then we went to Retama Village for their Christmas Decor Gala/Open House. Carolers were singing, and rum punch, coffee, and a lovely and delicious variety of Christmas cookies were served. We had hoped to see some of our friends there, but evidently missed them, so after enjoying our first party of the "Christmas Season," we headed home for dinner.

Today is Ed and Julie's eleventh anniversary. Congratulations to you both! It's also my goddaughter Debbie's 34th birthday. Hard to imagine where the time has flown!
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Happy Thanksgiving!

We are so fortunate and have so much to be thankful for! Today we shared a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner with good friends. We had lots of laughs and more than enough to eat, topped off by pumpkin and pecan pie. Yum!

Pat Boyink, Jan Spaulding, Judy Pottinger, and Lee Marks stand behind the spread.

Steve Spaulding, Hardy Pottinger, Bob Boyink, and Ken Marks in the living room.

We all walked over to Steve and Jan's place. We'll be staying in their Texas room next week while Venture is in the shop, and we wanted to check things out and get some ideas about what to bring with us. We are so spoiled by having our home an all our stuff with us no matter where we roam that it's hard to think about packing.

Jan showed us her baby tomatoes, which are doing quite well. They came to the Valley in October and found that the plants needed more water. The ripe tangelos and lovely roses in bloom are the fruits of their efforts.

We were disappointed this morning watching the CBS broadcast of the Macy's Thanksgiving parade. Most of the time was taken up by promotions of shows and celebrities. They described the balloons and some of the floats, but we didn't get to hear or see a single band. It was a bit shocking to hear the "shop, shop, shop" emphasis--especially the comment that Santa's appearance at the end of the parade is a signal that it's time to shop!

The sky was very clear and blue today. Tonight when we walked we saw Orion near the horizon in the east. We enjoy seeing the stars, and the night sky is reasonably dark here, especially at new moon.

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Dancing to Joe Saltel

We danced C-1 tonight at Texas Trails again, but this time the caller was Joe Saltel. We saw lots more of our Winter Texan friends that we haven't seen since last spring. Some of the folks haven't had a chance to dance all summer, and everyone needs a bit more practice, but we had lots of fun.

One thing we enjoy about Texas Trails is the display in the hallway of the arts and crafts produced by the residents. These folks are really talented! This week the woodcarvings are of Santas carved out of tree bark.

We stopped at the big HEB store at 10th and Trenton on the way home to pick up some last minute things for the Thanksgiving celebration tomorrow. We weren't the only ones doing some last minute grocery shopping. The parking lot was nearly full, even though it was 9:30 p.m., and the store was packed with shoppers.
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Camelot

Today is the 48th anniversary of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. In 1963, we were 18. For me, JFK represented hope and possibility, and his death, followed by the assassinations of Bobby Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr., signaled the loss of innocence and optimism. The world was a much darker and more frightening place than I had recognized. Kennedy may not have been perfect, but he was a statesman and leader who could challenge Americans to be their better selves.

Today has been another hot day, so we are doing most of our walking in the evening.

Ken got the 16 GB micro SD card he had ordered from Amazon today It's lots of extra storage for his tablet computer--another new toy.

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Happy Birthday, Cathlene!

Today is Cathy's fifteenth birthday. Wow! and that means that Ken and I are about to celebrate our fifteenth wedding anniversary. That doesn't sound like much compared to 46 years, but to us, it will definitely seem like a cause for celebration.

This afternoon we danced at TVA--Tropical Valley Acres to Darryl Lipscomb and saw some of our Valley friends we haven't seen since last spring. It was nice to see familiar faces. Today was Pat Boyink's 70th birthday. She is looking good (has her hair back, yay!) and doing well since her treatments ended. We were happy to dance with her and Bob.

Another hot day, but lots of wind again. We did most of our walking this evening after dark, when the temp had cooled down into the 70s.

We watched a TIVO recording of a Nature episode titled "My Life as a Turkey." The title made us curious, but we were really touched by the program and by Joe Hutto, the naturalist and photographer who is the protagonist of the story (though it turns out that he is portrayed by an actor, and the footage is a "re-creation." Some of his observations were quite thought provoking. He is evidently a person with a passion for animals and a profound respect for the natural world.

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Hot, Hot, Hot!

The high on this sunny day was 92 degrees. The heat was tempered a bit by the wind. We went over to the pool, but ended up in the air conditioned clubhouse, reading in the library. It's been a quiet day. Once the sun got lower in the sky, it was still in the 80s, but at least it was livable when we went for our evening walk.

I've been playing Words With Friends with Ed and Julie and Ken. Despite some success, my win-loss record is dismal. It was a refreshing experience to play Boggle with Ken tonight. He graciously allowed me to recover some of my self respect.
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Celebration

We joined some good friends tonight at Mimi's Cafe to celebrate some special events. Steve and Jan Spaulding are celebrating their 46th wedding anniversary, and Jan wore a skirt in honor of the occasion. Hardy Pottinger's birthday was last Monday. Not that these couples need much of an excuse to go out to eat! We had a delightful time sharing stories of our summer.

While we were eating, Chris called. He and Annie and Shawn were walking on the beach on the Oregon coast, seeing the moon jellies, which reminded him of our visit to the coast in April.

From Mimi's we all drove out to Texas Trails to Darryl Lipscomb's A dance. We had three squares of dancers plus one couple. It was great to see Pat Boyink dancing--and with her own hair grown out, too. She recommended the Mission Beauty College, just west of Bryan Ave.

In honor of the celebration, Jan actually wore a skirt! Aren't they a cute couple?

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Runaround

This morning we did our laundry, walking while the clothes were in the washer and again while they were drying. This afternoon Ken had a doctor's appointment. We were running a little late, so we hurriedly packed some sandwiches and headed to Mission. When we got there, Ken found out that Dr. George was at the Edinburgh office today, so we turned around and drove north. Rosie misplaced the office, so we had to call and ask for directions (so much for GPS technology!).

Tonight we met some friends at the old McAllen Convention Center to attend the opening concert in the McAllen Community Concert series. We don't have tickets, but John and Sandy Walenter aren't in the Valley yet, so we got to use their tickets. The featured group tonight was the Water Coolers. They bill themselves as "The comedy group that sings."

They were funny, with some on-target satire about corporate life, and their singing was enjoyable. However, their performance didn't seem to fit with others in the concert series. In fact, it didn't seem to be a concert. Besides, most of the audience aren't part of the corporate world they were lampooning. Some bits hit home with the audience (air travel, dealing with computer help lines, and such).

The best part of the evening was getting hugs from our friends we haven't seen in months. It's good to be home.
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Down in the Valley

We maneuvered our way out of Tips Park this morning, trying to avoid tangling with overhead branches, and headed south on US 281. Our first stop was at the Walmart in Alice, where we switched drivers and picked up some groceries.

We stopped at a nice rest area in Brooks County for lunch. It's one we stopped at on the way north last spring and took note of--it's located in the median about nine miles south of Falfurias (the county seat), so it's accessible both northbound and southbound. Right now everything is dry as a bone, and very little is green, but it was still a welcome respite from driving.

As we drove south, we saw more and more familiar sights (mainly lots of mesquite trees!). North of Edinburgh we passed a sign proclaiming "Gateway to the Rio Grande Valley." It felt good to be back "home" for the winter. We'll be here for the next four months, having good times with friends, doing plenty of square dancing--and keeping warm!
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Berry Springs Walk and Heading South

We headed over to Berry Springs Park and Preserve again this morning, intending to check out the tenting campground and historic structures we had seen called out on the map. The park is much more extensive than the sections we've seen so far. We walked around the historic structures and saw John Berry's grave and some presumably "historic" donkeys!

We also looked around the "Improved Campground," which has tent sites with tables and fire rings, but no hookups. All of the sites are shaded by either trees or shelters over the table. The fire rings are sport signs warning that there's a burn ban in effect. In the photos you can see some of the many pecan trees.

No one is on site, but we spotted an ATV with a couple of passengers and flagged it down to ask about the mysterious animal tracks in the pavement. The folks said they knew the tracks were deliberately placed and included animals not native to this park, but they didn't really know anything more about them. They said they would turn in our suggestion that it would be good to have some signage describing the tracks.

Our trip today took us through Austin an San Antonio on I-35. South of San Antonio we picked up I-37/US 281. That route goes almost directly south from San Antonio to the Rio Grande Valley, through some pretty desolate scrub plains. Our regular stopping point is a city park in Three Rivers, Tips Park. When I called a couple of days ago, the host said there were no vacancies. When I pressed her to provide us just a place to park with no hookups, she agreed that we could come on in and just park on the grass off to the west of the entrance gate. So that's where we are. It's near the highway, so a bit noisy, but fine for an overnight. There are not many options, so we're glad to have this spot.

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Lewisville to Berry Springs

After a great two weeks visiting Ed and Julie and Cate and Sam and Jesse, we packed up this morning to head south for the winter.  We stopped at a Texas Safety Rest Area just south of Waxahachie for lunch.

Our destination for tonight was a familiar one: Berry Springs RV Park, just off I-35 in Georgetown. One of the reasons we like this park is that it offers an Escapees discount. Another is its convenient location. But the most important is that Berry Springs Park and Preserve is just across the street.

We enjoy walking the trails in the park, including the wide concrete trail with its many animal prints. Some of them seem pretty fanciful. Surely there aren't any birds this large in the area!

We wouldn't like to have a run in with whatever made these prints!

We haven't been able to find any information on the prints online, and there are no signs in the park identifying them.

The last time we were here, this little fishing lake was full of water. Now it's nearly dry, probably another victim of the long Texas drought. It's hard to believe that a historic grist mill once occupied this site, powered by a spring that produced millions of gallons of water a day.

The park has a campground, but it's for tents only, so we'll be staying at the commercial park when we come through here next.

When we arrived at Berry Springs and opened the door to our home, we found dishes strewn about. Good thing that Corelle is break resistant! Some lunch plates were under the table even. This is the second time recently that dishes have fallen out of the cupboard over the sink. I was looking at the catches that are supposed to hold the doors shut when I noticed that both of the roller parts were broken. One roller on each was missing--the rivets had broken. We've replaced the other parts--the C-clamps--once or twice, but never replaced the roller sides. We'll be heading out tomorrow with a rubber band holding the doors shut!

I called Julie to see how Sam was doing. She says that  he started taking the antibiotics yesterday, and this morning  he was already feeling better. Yesterday morning when he woke up, he reported that his ear felt "fuzzy," which made sense to Julie. She felt the same way when she had an ear infection last year.

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Dentist, Again

We got up early this morning and drove to Grapevine to visit our dentist, Dr. Colangelo. We both had cleanings scheduled, and Ken was getting his crown installed. Everything went well. Ken's crown fit just right, and we both have brighter smiles.

On the way back from the dentist, we stopped at Grapevine Mills to return a couple of things. Then we went on to Home Depot and Lowes to look at kitchen faucets. We'd like to replace the one we have: it leaks and is corroded and the finish is very bad. It's much harder to pick out a faucet than I thought it would be. We bought one, brought it home, and then discovered that the finish already has spots on it.

After lunch, we took a bike ride around the park and the nearby neighborhood. We spotted these geese foraging on the lake shore. They all seem to be fat and sassy. This one appears to be doing a "goose step"!

Ken took a photo of this intriguing structure across the lake. We have no idea what it is.

Unfortunately, I started feeling under the weather last night, and I'm still feeling pretty puny today. So it was no surprise to read Julie's Facebook post that she took Sam to the doctor today. He's got an ear infection. I think what I have is an example of the "grandkids effect."
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S'mores at Last!

Instead of a walk, we went for a bike ride this morning. It was a bit windy, but warm. We rode mainly in the neighborhoods west of Mill St. Here's an interesting yard we passed, with a mini-golf course in the front yard advertising synthetic grass.

Later we went over to Ed and Julie's for a final visit. When we got there, Cate was scoring the Farkel game to practice her math. She won, by the way. Ed and Cate and Sam and I played Tiger Woods Wii golf. Fortunately, Cate and Sam and I were in "all play" mode, which makes the game much easier, but by no means foolproof, which I proceeded to demonstrate. After a while, Ed was complaining that his wrist hurt, and I was noticing that my wrist and my shoulder felt quite stressed. Even though it's not a real golf game, slinging the Wii remote around takes a toll on the joints!

Ken and Ed and Cate and I played Ingenious! next. Ken won, with Cate a close second.

We decided it was time to move on to supper and a campfire at the campground. We had planned this outing last weekend, but the weather hadn't cooperated.

We stopped at Sprouts and picked up some hot dogs and buns. Everything came together well. Ken and Ed got the fire going. It was getting dark by the time we roasted the hot dogs, but they tasted fine in the dark! Ken and I had Applewood uncured chicken wieners, and they were quite good. The highlight of the evening was the s'mores. Nothing like roasted marshmallows and gooey melting chocolate in graham crackers. Yum!

Somehow in the midst of all the fun, we forgot to take pictures, darn it!

After we cleaned up and put the fire out, we adjourned to our trailer. We wanted to show Ed and Julie our new Stressless chairs. Ed stretched out comfortably.

Cate was expectantly waiting for some spooky campfire stories, so of course we had to turn out the lights and tell the story of the man with the golden arm--but without scaring the kids so much they'd have nightmares, of course. Then Cate took a turn to tell a scary story about a mean witch, and Sam told one about Rackel with the red hands.

Jesse wandered around exploring everything. He even had to have the bathroom door opened so he could see what was inside.

At last it was time for the Shaffers to head home and get ready for bed and school tomorrow. We won't see them again, so we all hugged and kissed goodbye. I'll be back in a few weeks for Kelley's graduation, and we'll be back again in the spring in time for Cate's birthday.
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Parma Pasta & Pizza

I spent my junior high and high school years in Parma--Ohio, that is--without ever thinking that Parma is a place in Italy. Tonight "Parma" was an Italian restaurant where we ate calamari and cheese sticks and pizza and stromboli and Chicken Cody. Jesse had a great time coloring and drinking his milk and eating bread.

When Ken took this photo, everyone was smiling for the camera--except Sam, who was busy coloring.

Ed's regular waiter, Gregory, sat us in his section at a table with a reserved sign. We arrived at 5:30 and gave assurances that we would be out by 6:30, which was when the reservation was for. With three kids, we were unlikely to linger. (Somehow, Ed manages to have a "regular waiter," even though he only goes to this restaurant occasionally. Guess he makes a big impression.)

Our last trip to this restaurant was in April of 2010. On that occasion Terri and Molly and Kelley were with us too (according to our blog entry....). This time Ed ate most of the calamari appetizer, but I'm willing to bet that last time Kelley gave him some competition.

Later we played "spoons," using nice light plastic spoons, so no one got hurt! Earlier we played a game of Farkel, which Cate won handily. No mousetraps tonight, thank goodness!

Julie has a new iPhone, and she gave her old Samsung Galaxy S to Ken (Thanks, Julie!). So now he has three toys to play with. At one point he had his old Droid attached to his laptop, downloading files to move to the new phone, while he looked for Android apps for his Acer tablet. He was a picture of The Compleat Geek.

Earlier in the day, I tried to catch Jesse laughing and playing with his mom, but every time he saw the camera--you got it, he hammed it up!

I did manage to get one rather dark one with my cellphone while he wasn't looking!

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Date Night

On our walk this morning, we spotted this large craft being pulled from the water and readied for travel. The truck says "Delivering the boating dream" on its side, and we infer that the MarineMax crew are showing the new owner the ropes. We're impressed.

We walked over to the boat ramp and picnic area to explore because we had seen lots of vehicles and some canopies. We found out that the employees of the City of Lewisville were having a lunch and carnival to kick off their fundraising for charity efforts. The departments compete to raise the most money--and to get employees to pledge continuing support. We saw more city vehicles than you could shake a stick at, including an extremely shiny Battalion Chief fire vehicle.

Later we dropped by the post office to mail a small parcel, only to find that of course it was closed for Veterans Day. We were able to use the self-serve machines to print up a custom stamp so we could drop the item in a blue box outside.

Than we went on over to Ed and Julie's to spend some quality time with the kids while they went out on a date night.

Cute couple!

I played Mousetrap and Clue Jr. with Cate and Sam, while Jesse looked on. The mousetrap game was quite challenging because the parts of the contraption kept comping apart. When we finally got the whole thing put together, Cate's mouse was positioned on the cheese wheel, right where the trap would come down and eliminate her from the game when Sam turned the crank. I offered to switch places with her, so my poor mouse got trapped instead.

We all had fun playing while the parents were away, and then we had ice cream for a snack.

Ed posted a photo of the massive hunk of chocolate cake they had for dessert at Napoli's Italian Cafe (on Foursquare).

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Lunch with Kelley

Kelley had the first part of her teacher certification test this morning, and she didn't have to go to school for student teaching afterward. That gave us a chance to take her out to lunch at the Ghengis Grill in Frisco. It was her first visit to a Ghengis Grill (we had been to one in Tyler with Dick and Carol). We all enjoyed our meals and the chance to chat.

Here's a shot of the colorful apartment Kelley shares with two friends. The location is really good for them, because they can easily access both I-35 and SH 121. That will come in handy if Kelley gets a substitute teaching slot in one of the area school districts.

After lunch with Kelley and a visit to her apartment, we headed to the big CCA Resale Shop. We didn't have much luck there. We went to Ed and Julie's, where I fixed butternut squash soup for dinner and played on the Wii with the kids. Read more!

Costco

Ed and Julie are Costco members, so every time we come to visit, they are nice enough to take us along with them. Today we met Julie and Jesse at the Lewisville Costco. The visit was otherwise ordinary--until Ken found an Acer A500 tablet that he figured was a great deal. So now we have exceeded our previous record for how much money we've spent in one visit to Costco!

When we left Costco, we went to Thrift City to look for a warm coat for Ken. The zipper on his broke, and we are so seldom anywhere that a really heavy coat is needed. However, in anticipation of hiking on a glacier next summer when we take our Alaska cruise, we decided it would be good to be prepared. We really scored: a Pacific Trail heavy down jacket that will keep Ken warm at 20 degrees.

We also stopped at the next door Big Lots, where I finally found a mouse mat to put under my laptop. It fits the top of the personal table on my Stressless chair perfectly.

Than we went over to Ed and Julie's house to hang out and play with the kids. Great day.
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Quiet Day?

Today was pretty much uneventful, but when you're visiting three energetic grandchildren, "quiet" doesn't exactly describe the atmosphere. (Three ring circus, maybe?) Cate and Sam designed new "Mi's" for themselves on the Wii game. Cate's has red sunglasses, and Sam's has a beard and is named "Ed." Go figure.

The forecast chance of rain and thunderstorms today was 70%, but by this morning the radio was saying 100% We still didn't get very much actual rain. It was a bit chilly and blustery as the cold front blew in.
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Bike Ride and Ticket to Ride

Instead of going for a walk this morning, we decided to take our bikes for a spin. The land is fairly level near the lake, which is important because our legs are out of shape. We rode around the sports fields and along the lake. It was threatening to rain a bit, but never really did until we had a few light showers this evening.

After lunch we went to May's RV to pick up some parts we needed. We managed to totally crush our remaining wheel chock, and the sewer hose threaded adapter lost two of its bayonet retaining tabs. While we were there, we looked at some of the new fifth wheels on the lot. We found a couple of interesting features, but mainly we realized how well constructed our rig is.

We stopped by Sprouts on our way to Ed and Julie's. We always find some good produce and bulk items there, and we needed to pick up some Roma tomatoes for the Pesto Foccaccia Pizza recipe Julie was making for dinner (from the Budget Bytes website).  It turned out really yummy, by the way. Ken made the salad.

After dinner, Ed had a surprise for the kids: some glow sticks he found at a neighbor's garage sale. They were a hit.

Earlier, I started to play the Wii game with the kids, but they got sidetracked making cute new Mii's for themselves. 

Julie had a holiday gift party to attend. Ed and Ken and I played Ticket to Ride. We had fun, and maybe I won and maybe Ed won (depends how you figure it)--but either way, as Ed said, the winner doesn't get to lead the parade! Jesse was happy to hold up the box for a photo op.

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