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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Picnic!

Today we had planned a picnic, but the weather forecast this morning called for a 40% chance of rain and thundershowers. The wind was blowing, and it was overcast and gray--just not inviting picnic weather. So we decided to have our "picnic" at Ed and Julie's house instead of at the park.

We stopped at Kroger's on the way over to pick up some chicken (rotisserie, baked, and fried) and some green salad and fruit salad ingredients. Julie had made an interesting chickpea salad, and Kelley brought an apple pie. When we arrived at the house, we were surprised and happy to see that Kelley had brought Mason along with her, so we had a chance to meet him.

He was very friendly and outgoing, and he offered to help when Kelley was working on the salad (now there's a good man!). We enjoyed the picnic and the chance to get to know Mason a bit.

Farkel game after lunch gets Kelley, Mason, Ed and Cate excited.
 

Cate certainly enjoys playing games!

Sam got a chance to show off his new desk. Julie got some ideas for this project from Pinterest, but it took lots of hard work from Ed and her to pull it together.

After Kelley and Mason said goodbye, we all went for a walk. Cate rode her bike, and Sam and Jesse rode in the stroller.  We walked almost two miles, which was a little much for Cate. Sam finished riding the bike home, and Cate rode in the stroller. Her mom said, "You know you're too big for a stroller when your feet hit the ground!"

Here's Jesse after his bath, mugging for the camera again 8-)

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Ikea and Ice Cream

On our walk this morning, we ventured into the neighborhood west of Mill St. Here's a cute mailbox we spotted:

Definitely a creative mailbox flag!

Later Julie picked us up for a trip to Ikea. Ed met us at the store. Cate and Sam decided to play at the Smaland play center while the rest of us shopped. Ed and Julie were looking for a desk for Sam's room. I had a couple of small things I was looking for too. It's always fun to check out the showroom furnished rooms and even small apartments. Some of them are as small as our rig. We all found things to buy.

Here's a common sight at the Shaffer house:

Cate and Sam playing games at the computer.

Later I made some chicken broccoli rice casserole. Ed made luscious banana splits for everyone.

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Kelley Visits

At 8:15 this morning, I was startled to hear an unfamiliar ringtone. As I fumbled to answer it, I saw that it was Kelley calling. She was on her way to school. I was on my way out of dreamland. (Not to worry, Kelley--it was time for us to wake up anyhow....) She asked if we were going to be at Ed's later today. We were, and she said she'd be over after school too.

We took our walk after lunch, when we figured it would be warmer. It was actually sunny and 60 degrees, and I took my jacket off after a few minutes of walking. We went over to the day use area to check out prospects for having a picnic there. The playground equipment isn't exactly built for toddlers, but Cate and Sam should do fine on it, and there are some nearby tables shaded by some large trees.

It was great to see Kelley. We talked about her student teaching and her plans. She doesn't care for middle school (grades 6-8), especially since they seem to have little discipline. She'll be taking her teacher certification exams during the next couple of weeks. She has four more weeks of student teaching, and then she'll start subbing (at least until she gets a full-time job).

She has a new love interest, a man named Mason Kelley. The story of their meeting is definitely 21st century. She saw him at a bar with a friend and went up to him. They talked, and he told her his name, but he didn't get her number. The next day she was talking with her friends and one said, "Why don't you just Facebook him?" She remembered his name, of course, especially since his last name is spelled just like her first name. The rest is history. They've been dating for a couple of months now.

We had a good evening together. She helped make a spaghetti dinner and played with the kids. Cate is especially enamored of her.

I played Wii balance games with Cate and Sam, and then Jesse wanted to take a turn. He was so cute on the balance board, and his penguin actually caught 45 fish! He thinks he's such a big boy. He's sure cute. At one point Ed was holding him and he was unhappy. Cate walked over and he interrupted his tantrum long enough to say cheese and smile because he thought she was taking his picture!

Jesse is a real ham! It's impossible to get a candid shot of him because as soon as he sees a camera, he's sure to say cheese!
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It's Still Cold!

The wind has died down some, but it was still very chilly when we got up this morning. We stayed in the campground area during our walk, hoping to get some shelter from the campers and the trees. We are always curious to see what everyone's rigs are like. Here's a very unusual one we found in the campground today.

It's a Doolittle Trailer. Going to the manufacturer's website, we found out that they basically make cargo trailers, but they do offer options like the "RV door with screens/window option" and "Living quarters packages."

We went over to visit again today. I did remember to bring my disks, so Sam and Cate and I played the Penguin game. Later Sam got to pick a game. He chose the "Ni Hao, Kai Lan Dragon Boat Race Game," and of course he was Rintoo. We think the spinner is rigged in favor of Rintoo! Ed won the first round, but only because he kept using the "Dragon breath" to move Rintoo back! Sam won the second round.
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"Did You Bring Your Disks?"

This morning we got up early so we could be ready for the drive over to Grapevine in morning traffic to see our dentist, Michael Colangelo. Ken was getting prepped for a replacement crown. I took advantage of the visit to get Dr. Colangelo to adjust my night guard. I'm hoping I'll actually be able to sleep with it now.

Of course, going to Grapevine meant going right past Grapevine Mills, a large outlet-type shopping mall. We parked by Neiman Marcus and walked in. I need a new belt, so we asked where the ladies' belts were. When I looked at the first two on the rack, I took a deep breath. They were steeply marked down--and the prices were still over $100 to $300 each. Our next move was to head to JC Penney's and the Burlington Coat Factory. We stopped by Bed, Bath, and Beyond too. By the time we left the mall, it was getting late, and we still had to stop at Kroger's on the way home. We got home just in time to eat a late lunch.

After lunch we went over to Ed and Julie's house. When we got out of the truck, Sam ran up to hug Ken and me--and to ask "Did you bring your Penguin disks?" (They have their own Wii game now, but don't have the Wii Fit program. The "Penguin" game is a balance activity that involves shifting your weight back and forth to stay on top of an iceberg while catching fish to eat.) It's pretty easy to tell why I'm popular with Sam!

Cate was working on her homework but paused long enough to give us a hug. Jesse was a bit shy, so we gave him plenty of time to warm up to us. After a bit, he was "high fiving" and fist bumping with Sam and with me. He found it so funny, he'd have kept on fist bumping forever, it seemed.  By the end of the evening, he came and asked me to pick him up. What a cutie! Sam was wearing his dinosaur shirt, and he started telling me about alligators. Of course I had to show him the photo of an alligator we took at the Caldwell Zoo in Tyler, plus photos of the kids in costume and the other animals. The alligator was the biggest hit.

Julie was home when we got there, but she had an appointment to do a massage later. She had fixed a nice big crockpot of shredded chicken breast so we could make some Betty McDonald (aka King Ranch) casserole for dinner. Ed came home shortly. Of course he was mobbed by the kids and the dogs (Bijoux and Charlie). It's always a big occasion when Ed arrives! Sam decided he wanted to sit next to Grandpa Ken at dinner, and Cate wanted to sit next to me. Tomorrow night they'll switch.

After dinner we all played Farkel! Cate started out by rolling three pairs. Wow! Then Sam did the very same thing. It was neck and neck for a while, but finally Ken won.
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On to Lewisville

We left Tyler this morning and headed west to Lewisville Lake Park, where our favorite spot, site #6, was waiting for us. We've been here so often that it's very familiar. After getting set up and resting a bit, we took our evening walk to explore the campground and the park, to see what was new. One thing we expected from our experience at Cooper Lake is that the lake water level is way down.

We spotted this heron when it lit in a nearby tree along the shore.

A few minutes later it took off and flew along the water's edge.

And landed here, where it looks like the leader of a flock of ducks!

We had eye doctor appointments in Carrollton this evening. We scheduled them for the day we arrived in case we needed to order new glasses, in the hope that they'd come in before we leave town in two weeks. It turned out that our eyes are basically stable and neither of us needs new glasses.
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Halloween on Eagle Street

When we got up this morning and looked out, we saw a geyser of water erupting from a trailer in the row behind us. I put on my raincoat and went to see if a hose had blown. I couldn't get very close, but it appeared that the pipe to the water faucet had broken, so I called the owner. He's home from the hospital, but still bedridden, and he sounded pretty discouraged and like he really didn't know what to do, but he did mention shutting off the water to that section.

We decided to add more water to our fresh water tank, just in case. A little later we saw a repair truck at the trailer and the leak was stopped. The repair truck left and came back twice, so we figure the guy needed parts. When I talked with him about the cause of the problem, he said he really didn't know, but someone had suggested that a wild hog might have broken the pipe--as good a theory as any, I guess.

After lunch we went over to Dick and Carol's for a final visit. Debbie dropped Robby off on her way to pick up Christine from school, asking Carol to feed him. Carol had just the thing, a small bowl pack of Chef Boyardee ravioli, which Robby loves. He ate that and ran outside to play.

When he came back in he asked for an umbrella and proceeded to explore and explain various imaginative ways to use an umbrella and also announced that it was a nonagon. We counted the sides and the points--only eight, so I declared it an octagon. He still liked nonagon better! He said that I was nice and that Ken was nice. I asked if he was thirsty for his milk, which Carol had put in the fridge. When he said he was, I said I'd bring it to him. "See," he said. "That's how I know you're nice!" What a character!

Debbie stopped by with Christine. She said that Sam was running a bit of a temp, so Robby was going to trick or treat with a friend. She and Christine were going to stay home and hand out candy. I hugged them goodbye until next April.

This afternoon we were getting ready to head out for a walk when Carol decided to snap our picture by her front door, decorated to welcome this evening's trick or treaters. We wore our Halloween alien shirts, which we only get to wear once a year. Ken suggested that they'd be good to wear out hiking during hunting season.

Carol's neighbor down the street really goes all out with the decorating. It was hard to get photos of the lights in the dark, but I did get one shot of this ghost and cat. The guy was using a mike and scary voice to invite kids up to his door to get their candy. After I'd taken several photos, he came up to me and handed me a grape Tootsie Roll Pop, saying that next year if I wanted candy I'd have to come to the door! Just for nostalgia's sake, I ate the pop. When I was a kid, it was one of my very favorites.

The neighbors across the street had their haunted tent open for trick or treaters, and flocks of them came to go through the spooky tent. Loud spooky music emanated from it, along with flashing colored lights and the screams of kids. I went though it, just for fun. It was definitely an assault on the senses, but I got a treat at the end.

Lots of kids came to Dick and Carol's door. Many were fascinated by the revolving colored light ball she had lit on a table inside the door. It gave something like the effect of a mirror ball. We saw lots of cute little kids in costume, some babies in arms. There were also lots of older kids, and even one mother with her own treat bag.

Carol ran out of candy just in time--she was ready for bed. We said our goodbyes and headed home.

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