ride, ride, ride

We got up and Evelyn went off to have blood drawn. While she was gone, I called to make an appointment with the doctor who will do our colonoscopy. I learned that Dr. McDougal has to send him a referral. I called and they are to fax it over. We will go to the doctor next week to make the arrangements. I continued working on the cleaning of the shed. It always looks much better for a few weeks until I have a chance to clutter it again. Evelyn went to walk on the treadmill after the doctor visit and then came home so we could get ready for the ride to the Tierra Santa golf course with the bike club. It was a nearly perfect day for the ride: 70s and no wind to buck. We had to ride through an area where the road was being repaved and enjoyed the pungent odor of hot asphalt. The restaurant at the clubhouse was all set up for us and everyone ate the same meal because of having the 2 for 1 coupons. We shared one and brought the other home. We did eat our French fries because they are not good warmed over. We rode part way with the club and then went to Trail’s End to submit our application to work at the Feast of Sharing. We also visited a friend who is a discussion leader in the BSF group Evelyn used to attend. She and her husband had been to Austin for the holiday and brought back colds with them. We pray we don’t get it. We rode on home and cleaned all the fan blades on the four ceiling fans we have. Gail, the friend, brought some cranberry sherbet for us to try. Evelyn had wanted to get a haircut but the woman who does it was in a shuffle tournament and must have done well because she got home late in the afternoon. She called and rescheduled Evelyn for tomorrow at 12:30. We continued to work on house cleaning and decorating. Evelyn did call the Adams County Hospital where her mom is recuperating. Things sound pretty grave: congestive heart failure, heart attack and pneumonia plus being 92 makes recovery a remote possibility. We are still praying for a rally in her health. We have begun to check on airline tickets on some of the discount web sites. We ate LEFTOVER tortilla soup for dinner and watched Purdue attempt to play basketball on TV. We had to leave for choir practice before they were put out of their misery. At choir we announced that we would like to have the choir come to our house after caroling on the 17th. We came home, I wrote this and went to bed. I was very sleepy through the practice and there is nothing particularly good on TV on Tuesdays.

Doctor, Doctor, give us the news

Monday was doctor day. We got up and exercised for the first time since we arrived. I walked around both parks and returned the brush, broom and brass hose nozzle to Tom Crouch. Evelyn went to walk on the treadmill. This was the day for the park meeting, but we couldn’t attend because Evelyn had an appointment to get her medicine adjusted. She is still working on reducing the blood pressure. He couldn’t do anything until she had some blood drawn. She will do that tomorrow. She also had her ears cleaned. We rode our bicycles to the doctor’s office and back. We didn’t get back until around lunchtime. Evelyn did hang some wreaths that I had brought from the storage shed while I took some items to the recycling center, and then we had salads for lunch. We then rode bicycles to the retinal specialist only to learn that our Dr. Arrango has moved to Alabama to be closer to his parents. We saw another doctor who offered the shot in the eye option. We both decided that it still was not an appealing option. Evelyn did get her eyes checked for a new prescription and then got some prices on new lenses. On the way back we went to the oncologist to change Wednesday’s appointment so we could ride with the bike club to Terra Santa for a hamburger lunch. We now go at 8:45 Friday. We then stopped at the hospital to set up a time for us to volunteer. We can’t work at the admission desk because all the times are full. In order to work the same shift we might have to work in the gift shop from 5 to 8:30 on Mondays. We will receive a call later. We went to the office where I bought an entertainment book that has a 2 for 1 coupon at Terra Santa. We will use it tomorrow! The ride was supposed to be Wednesday but had been changed. That was somewhat disappointing but the worst thing is that the entertainment book has no coupon for the Remington Steak House. That was our favorite coupon. Bummer! We came back home and began cleaning the storage shed. I was surprised at how much I was able to move, making more room. I am also discarding many items that I will never use. After an hour Evelyn came in and made LEFTOVER chili and tortilla soup for dinner.

Shiner on

Sunday we prepared for church and Bible study. We arrived on time, but I went into the office to find the insert sheets for the next few weeks. I plan to use them for a Bible study after the worship at Trail’s End. I found them and also cut some of the address cards I had made a couple of days ago. I couldn’t get the card paper to go through the printer correctly and couldn’t separate the cards on the crease. I had to use the paper cutter. After Bible study, we went to church. The pastor had decided to have a worship service in which he explained the steps in the liturgy, including Communion. I really liked the service although it was long and made longer by the serving of the Lord’s Supper. Afterward we went to the China buffet with Joe and Bonny. We hadn’t seen them because they had been gone to Disneyworld during the week were here. We had a great time visiting with them and decided to get together again at our house at 7 for special Shiner 96 and popcorn. In the afternoon we worked on finalizing the lights around the edge of the carport roof. We didn’t have much time because we didn’t get home until after 2. I had to go to Wal-Mart to get another extension cord. While there, I wanted to get a DVD RW so I could put the pictures from the computer onto a disk as a back-up. I don’t want to lose these pictures the way I lost all the others on the former computer. There were two young boys there who spent a lot of time helping me find the correct disks. They were two of the friendliest kids I have met in a long time. By the time I returned it was time to go to the hall to serve ice cream. There were very few people that attended. A strange thing was that the man in charge of the volunteers made us wear caps (in lieu of hairnets) because we were serving food. That has never happened before. I came home and made the popcorn. Joe and Bonny came, and we talked about their trip with the grandkids and showed Aaron’s pictures of our South Pacific trip. We ate two makings of popcorn and drank the 96s. It tasted just like the boch beer to me. We did like it, however. We have a great time when we are with the Winstons. I was tired so Evelyn made me go to bed without writing the blog of the day.

Decking the halls

Saturday was a stay at home day. When I got up, Evelyn was already putting the ingredients together to make some hazelnut/poppy seed bread. She put into the bread machine and started the process. I took a shower and prepared to on decorating for Christmas. We dragged the outdoor metal Crèche with lights. We had to replace many, but most of the sockets worked. We assembled the lighted tree we had purchased last year and added some ornaments. I also hung some icicle lights we had bought at Wal-Mart in College Station. We had not noticed the wiring was dark green instead of white. We aren’t sure we will like them during the day. We had sandwiches for lunch (not leftovers), and then decided it was too hot to work. We stayed inside, and I watched more football while she napped. I called a friend in Kansas and talked for half an hour because our cell phone month ends Sunday and I needed to use the minutes. I also called Cleveland to talk with the Georges family and harass them about the weather: they have snow and cold and we have 80s and sunny. After the nap, Evelyn made pizza with the dough she had made for that purpose. When she wakened, she checked the bread machine just in time to stop the dough from rising out of the machine. She made pizza and we had it for dinner; it was not leftover! We had plenty left and will have it tomorrow most likely. One of the neighbors in back of us has two labs that bark much of the time. One of the park residents decided to go talk with the owner about keeping them quiet. I think the black one must be in heat because the male just barks at the fence door where she is locked up. They usually run in the back yard together. We resumed our decorating and found a garland with wound lights worked. Last year when we put it away only half of the lights worked but they all did this year. Most of our decorations are quite old but we still like them. We called to volunteer to work on the 16th at the Feast of Harvest. The volunteer coordinator said he would bring an application to work next Monday. We decided to stay in this evening too even though there were “horse races” in our hall. They are some fun but not something we are driven to do. We worship tomorrow for probably the last time at Immanuel. While I was on line, I found some memory foam at Linen and Things. I would have ordered one, but Evelyn thinks the prices will be better after Christmas.

Half a day off.

I got up early to go to a sale at the local Borderland Hardware. I only went because a friend of our from Canada called and told us of it. I found some things I thought I needed such as a paper shredder. I went to Trail’s End to post announcements about our worship and saw one of the men who attends there. I also talked with his wife but could not work up the nerve to ask them to help set up on Sunday. They did last year, but the man complained so much I didn’t want to ask him again. I also need someone to announce the services in their park meeting. They didn’t want to speak in front of the group. He did give me three tomato plants and sold me a pound of pecans he likes to pick them out of the shell in the evenings. I brought the items home, and we immediately began planting the gardens. We planted the tomatoes, cilantro seeds, onion sets, brussel sprouts, and some squash seeds we brought from NC. We had bought the squash in Indiana. We also cut back two Aloe plants in decorative plants. We ate lunch and decided to loaf the rest of the afternoon. I did work on my first sermon while Evelyn took a nap. I also watched A&M nearly upset UT on national TV. When Evelyn got up we worked on some cleaning and Christmas decoration although the big decorating will be tomorrow. We had a light dinner and then went to Dairy Queen so Evelyn could have the pumpkin blizzard she has wanted for two weeks. We shared it and then went to the grocery to get ingredients for the making of our hazelnut/poppy seed bread. We came home and watched Family Man, a movie we had seen before that we liked. I asked the man at HEB if the new Wal-Mart had hurt their business. He thought it had but more damage has come from the economy here. Gasoline prices had hurt people’s income. It is interesting to think that since the prices here are lower than any place we have found on our travel to get here. We will work on decorating tomorrow.

Thanksgiving blessings

I had trouble sleeping. I was up from 3:30 and 5 because I was too hot. When I finally got back to sleep, it was time to get up with our alarm set for 7. We had decided to work on the weeds in the front and back. We had little problem when I tried to use my 100 foot extension cord to operate the electric hedge trimmer. I sparked so much that it broke the circuit. I used the manual trimmers to cut the plants in the front. The grass pulled up easily. We moved to the back where we cut our amaryllis and pulled more weeds. We also washed a tarpaulin and a table cloth that had been covered with dust over the summer. I came in about 10 to shower when Evelyn told me that a neighbor was in front digging some “pups” from our sega palm tree. We worked until 10:30, and then Evelyn and I showered and readied ourselves for the Thanksgiving dinner. I was surprised about how few people had chosen to attend. I was blessed to be asked to return thanks to God for our blessings. We enjoyed the dinner and Evelyn’s pie was the best thing. Many of the side dishes were tasteless although the turkey was quite good and tender. It had been soaked in brine overnight. After the dinner, I helped rearrange the tables and chairs in the hall. When I got home, Evelyn had finished the dishes and was lying down. We then went to Rio Hondo to visit with Don and Janice Waters (just friends, no relation) whose daughter Shelly had died in August. We met their daughter-in-law and grandchildren who came over to watch a video since they had lost their television privilege at home. The major thing was that they needed to talk about their loss. They displayed a depth of submission to the will of God. They held no animosity for God’s allowing her to die. We were inspired just listening to them share their faith. We stayed until 9:30 and drove the 40 miles home to rest for the night.

Early Thanksgiving worship

We didn’t walk this morning as we should. Instead I went to sign us up for the golf club. It has several dinners during the year and some breaks on prices but not as much as I thought. When I returned, I began cleaning the Texas room by moving things out and running both the small and large vacuums. Evelyn spent the morning baking the pecan pies for tomorrow. She also went to the hall to give a copy of an announcement of the trip to Harlingen to the office so it can be distributed to all the ladies in the park. We also got a call from her brother John telling us that Mom’s sister Jean had died. She has only one sister, Pauline, left alive. Mom herself is ill with something that is sweeping through the wing in which she lives at the retirement village. At noon we ate a lunch of leftover ham, and then I continued cleaning while Evelyn cleaned the kitchen. Then she lay down to rest. We didn’t eat dinner so we could go to church early. We had a Thanksgiving service this evening instead of tomorrow. We all need to be reminded that God is the One we owe thanks to. I also wanted to go early to get some insert sheets that I can use for worship and Bible study at Trail’s End. In the afternoon I worked on trying to make an announcement bulletin to post at Trail’s End this week. I have a terrible time working the new “improved” Microsoft Works. It should be easier but not to me. We returned home after worship and watched TV. Evelyn doesn’t like my detective shows so she reads junk novels instead. The temperature here has been marvelous here all week. It has been warm during the day and cool at night: 80s and 50s. We thought of our daughter Stacy and her family visiting her husband Tom’s mother in Cleveland. They left Tuesday and will be there during a predicted blizzard on Thanksgiving Day. I hope they can make it back on time. It will be questionable. We will pray for them.

Too many burrs

We didn’t get up too early because we planned to ride with the bike club to Jose’s Cafeteria. We left at 8:30 in the cool and had a great ride to the restaurant. While Evelyn ordered, I went to the hardware store to buy some letters to put on the mirror of the young barber in Mexico. Every barber has his name on the mirror behind him except him. I also found a few other items as usual. I returned to the restaurant, ate my chicken fajita taco, and left with the group to ride back. Evelyn and I went to see the oncologist to make an appointment. We then rode past our GP and made an appointment and had our blood pressure taken. Evelyn’s was 144/90, far too high. She is to start Crestor instead of Lipitor to see if it will come down. We came home and went to work cleaning the screen porch. It gets filthy when the dust blows in the summer. We borrowed a power washer from a friend, but it didn’t work. We used a small nozzle instead which worked well. Evelyn was went down to look at some stain glass designs for North Carolina. She was gone all the time I was working. I didn’t mind though. When she came back, I was nearly finished, so we finished and began pulling weeds, the ones this year are sand burrs. I have never seen so many here before. We constantly track them into the house even though we remove our shoes before coming in. We had thick rubber gloves or we would have stabbed ourselves in the hands over and over. Just as we finished, Lois and Lionell, our friends from another park. They saved us from starting another job. We sat on the porch and visited about the summer. The technician from Dish Network came to connect our system. I had left the remote in the motor home, so Lionell and I went to get it. The tech helped me understand how to work the system and everyone left. We had tortilla soup for dinner and then I rode around the park with the bike club again. I came back and worked on the computer while we watched our “new” TV.

Future problems

We wakened early again and walked around the parks for exercise. We saw an old friend, Jacque, leaving for golf. We talked briefly and came home to shower and go to the park meeting. There was a representative from HEB there explaining the new Medicare prescription program. We will call Purdue to check in to our coverage. The worst thing is that we are almost required to sign up for the program. There is a stiff penalty if we want to sign up later. There were many important items including an opportunity to volunteer to serve food at a community dinner provided by HEB. We will volunteer in December. We all had a big surprise in that Linda, our park manager, resigned early in the morning. I talked with the interim manager who got mad at me last season about our motor home. She insisted we had to move it before tomorrow. I went right back and moved it to Barbee-Neuhaus John Deere lot. I am really worried that we will have many conflicts. I will try to talk with her this week. We came home and had lunch, then Evelyn went to the grocery. When she returned, I washed the car and both bicycles. I also pulled some more weeds before dinner. We worked inside because we have to get this place cleaned up. We also watched some TV and went to bed.

back to Immanuel Lutheran

We had set the alarm for 6:45 and wakened rested. We dressed and left a bit late for the 8:00 AM service that we learned begins in two weeks. We drove out to the Mid Valley golf course and saw that there was a bridge out about 25 feet from the entrance. We went back to the church even though early for the Bible study. We drank coffee and sat around until the class started. Everyone seemed happy to see us back except for one couple we don’t really care for any way. We saw Lydia Edge, the pastor’s daughter who goes to Purdue. She had a bad cold, and we hope we weren’t exposed. We came back for lunch. I grilled two pieces of ham we had, and some other leftovers we had. Afterward we took a last swing through the coach and found much more than we ever expected but finally got everything out. I made Evelyn lie down and call her brother while I moved the motor home, after dumping the tanks. I had gone to ask Linda, the park manager, for permission to park by the hall. We had had problems cooperating in the past because I did some things by jumping over her authority. I didn’t want to cause another problem. I came back and trimmed one of the Sega Palm trees and pulled some burr weeds so they can be picked up tomorrow. We also watched some TV and went to bed with a big day planned for tomorrow.

Back home again, in Mexico

Saturday was an unload day. I wanted to get finished by tomorrow if possible so I could move the coach. The main reason was to put weeds, etc., out on the curb so they could be picked up Monday. We noticed two plastic trash bags full of weeds when we arrived yesterday. We went to see how the neighbors were and learned that he had hired his grandsons to pull weeds for us. They told us the place was overrun and the boys had nothing else to do since they couldn’t go fishing. He thought pulling weeds was better than sitting around. Evelyn had decided I needed a haircut, so we went to Nuevo Progreso. We went to Gloria’s and I got a haircut and we both had pedicures. I also had a tamale that Gerson was having for lunch, and it was so good that I bought a dozen. The manager makes them. We went back and stopped at the dentist and I made an appointment to have my false tooth adjusted. It had come out while I was eating during the summer. We also went to a liquor store and bought a liter of Bailey’s Irish Cream. (I discovered we had one when we got home.) We had brought a pull cart that Evelyn had used to pull books at the university, so I took it and an empty case of Negra Modelo beer to replace it with a full one. The distance from the liquor store to the car is nearly a quarter mile and the case gets heavy. We also found the cheapest place to buy Kahlua for Shirley. She wants me to find out whether it is legal to ship it from Texas to Indiana. I don’t know how to find out but will try Monday. We came home and I ate two tamales and some chili while Evelyn finished some clam chowder. We went back to carrying in many items, some of which we had forgotten we had brought and some things we had worried were lost. We spent some time going through the mail and found at least one bill that I will pay on line. We finally rested a bit during the evening while the laundry was finishing up. We were tired but looking forward to worship tomorrow.

An unwanted property

We got up and left Kingsville headed for Harlingen. We had decided to stop and look at our property in Sunshine Park. We posted for sale and for rent signs. We talked to the head groundskeeper, Sergio, who said he would call a man who might buy our unit for very little but we would be free of it. We also talked to a woman who has a friend that would like to rent it for the week of Christmas. If we can’t sell it by then, the rent would help by paying for the December rent. We put a microwave that Tom Jones had given us in there and moved the other one outside for disposal. We also took some TV trays and a card table and chairs that would not be necessary to include with the unit. We sure would like to be rid of the thing. We continued to Weslaco, connected the electricity, turned on the water and heated some shrimp and catfish from last night. We then proceeded to begin unpacking the unit. I worked on the compartments while Evelyn cleaned the cupboards and washed the dishes left here. I also went to the office and picked up the huge box of mail awaiting us. We spent some time in the evening going through it but did not finish. We also brought everything in from the refrigerator but not the freezer because we want to make sure ours in the kitchen was at optimum cold. We worked all afternoon and evening but did stop and deal with the mail while the laundry was being dealt with. After 9 we returned a call to Rosalie in California. Evelyn was cold here too. We had to have a blanket. It was in the high 60s today, so it may be chilly for her.

Beer and shrimp

We arose and left Gonzales headed for Shiner. It was not far and we arrived at 10:30. I inquired as to tours from a merchant who thought the tours began at 10:30. We rushed to the hospitality room to discover that the tours begin at 11. While waiting we enjoyed a taste of one of the five beers brewed there. There were many things for sale: a tool box barbecue grill, a keg grill, many shirts and beach umbrellas as well as trinkets. We began the tour with seven other people, five of whom turned out to be brew masters from San Antonio. While watching the bottling process, one of the bottles headed for the labeler fell over and was followed by two others. The operator rushed to set them back up while those following pressed on to follow the movement of the conveyer. He finally succeeded, breaking only one. I laughed because I remember similar events happening to me when I worked at the Falstaff brewery back in Fort Wayne in the 1960s. We finished the tour and returned to the hospitality room to enjoy yet another brew. The most famous it Shiner Bock, but Evelyn liked the Blonde. I don’t want her to like beer too much. She is a great cheap date--at least when ordering drinks. Diet Pepsi usually allows free refills. We bought a button for a friend Paul who collects them and went off to a small store to buy some limited edition Shiner 96. There were only 30,000 cases brewed and they may become collectors items. We then went to lunch at a local “German” restaurant and shared a German sampler plate. The sausage and bratwurst were good but the pork chop was tasteless. It came with good sour kraut and a salad. It was so much that we took some with us. We drove on south arriving at my favorite gasoline fill up location, Odem. We paid only $1.919 per gallon, the cheapest we had paid all summer. Again Odem let me down because gasoline was only $1.849 in the Valley. We drove to Kingsville and stopped because it was getting dark. I remembered a restaurant offering all you can eat shrimp, so we went there. Evelyn loves shrimp. I Had catfish and again the portions were so big we had to take some with us. I must say some other diners had left nearly a full plate of shrimp they had ordered, and I brought the plate to our table and we took them. They would have been thrown out so we saved them. We went to the local Wal-Mart for the night.

Meeting fellow Christian volunteers

We awoke to the alarm at 7 and prepared for our second day serving the Lord at BSF. We found the location much easier than yesterday. Evelyn had a book about Australia that Carrie had given her. There was a woman volunteering with us who was from Australia but had never heard of the author so Evelyn gave her the book to take with her. We spent the morning and afternoon working together weighing pages again. At noon we went for some brisket from Rudy’s Barbecue. It was delicious as usual. They also have a salad with the brisket, creamed corn, beans, and hard rolls. There was no real dessert today but strawberries were on the buffet. We ate with Chad, Susan Kaminski’s son in law, and 4 other members of the press room crew. There was a Chinese American from Chicago who had moved to San Antonio who was working for BSF. We talked about Chicago sports and other sports memories. After lunch I took Evelyn to the Rafikki headquarters about half a mile down the traffic less road. She wanted to buy a necklace and wanted to walk back. I returned and resumed weighing. After she returned, another local volunteer arrived to work beside us. She was a lab technician, working with nursing students at UTSA. She and Evelyn had a nice visit. She had spent some of the summer volunteering at Billy Graham’s Training Center in Asheville and knew some things about Maggie Valley. We left BSF at 3 when everyone takes a break and drove back to hook up and leave San Antonio for Shiner. We drove to Gonzales where we spent the night in the local Wal-Mart. We had peanut butter and jelly toast for dinner and played gin rummy for about an hour before retiring. The temperature prediction for tonight is in the low 30’s, so Evelyn needed to put the flannel sheets back on the bed. She really gets cold. That is one reason we left BSF before I had thought we would. I can’t quite understand why we didn’t go farther south since it will likely get just as cold here as in San Antonio. I guess she thinks I really want to tour the Shiner brewery.

Serving Him at last

The clock did work, and we arose ready to do volunteer work. We had been to the BSF compound 9 years ago and felt confident we could find it again. Wrong! The city has grown so much in the north side of town that even the road has been rerouted so we drove more than three mile farther north than we needed. I called Headquarters and learned the way. There has been an entire new road constructed since 1997. We finally arrived but only a few minutes late. The press workers and volunteers were in prayer, asking the Lord’s help as they do each day. We went to the packaging room and weighed lessons to put into packages for shipment to classes over the world. It was fascinating to see the scales so calibrated that they counted the number of sheets by weight. Our goal was to put 100 sheets in each stack, rubber band them and stack they 25 high on a table. The scale told us exactly how much under or over 100 we were, so we could remove or add to make 100. The modern world! We worked for two hours and went to lunch of tacos and cheese dip. We then went back to await our tour guide who showed us around the campus (compound, I call it). It is warming and inspiring to be around these people who are full of the Holy Spirit exhibiting joy in their faces and voices. I think I was like that once years ago. We finished the tour of the grounds in the packaging room. There were two pieces of equipment designed especially for BSF. One was a specially sized shrink wrap machine that was so strong that it could be mailed without being put into a cardboard box. We went back to weighing until 4:00. There was a break at 3 when popcorn and sodas were served. When we left, we drove to the Rafikki headquarters on the same campus where Evelyn met up with her former teaching leader, Susan Kaminski who is now director of the Rafikki. They had a nice reunion and then we returned to the coach. We had talked about going to see the San Antonio Spurs play basketball, but Evelyn was too tired. We walked to the Costco store next door but, not being members, we couldn't buy anything. We walked back and then spent the cold evening “at home”.

The dude ranch/cowboy capital of the world

We got up early and went into Bandera to look around. We were too early and not much was open. We drove around town and parked. We found a couple of stores just opening and found some things I thought we would eventually buy. We wanted to go to the library to use a San Antonio telephone book. We found the telephone number for Bible Study Fellowship, and I called them. The volunteer coordinator said we could volunteer for the next three days but could not stay on the grounds in our motor home. We decided to stay at a Wal-Mart near US 281, which is not far from headquarters. As the stores opened, we started shopping, finding little that we wanted. The stores had some interesting things but nothing we wanted. We went to a back street and found a beer garden, mostly outdoors. The floor was concrete but had been dirt until 3 months ago. We have a picture of us in front of the stage where bands some times play. By then we were getting hungry, and went to the Ole Spanish Trail restaurant, featuring a Mexican food buffet for $6.50. The restaurant has a bar (but serves no alcohol) that has several saddles used as bar stools. We have pictures of us sitting on them. We enjoyed it very much. We had left the motor home at the RV park, so we had to go back to get it. While I unhooked the water, etc., Evelyn laid down to rest and fell asleep. I wanted to give her more time and went to the park hall to read the newspaper. I also watched a but of TV and learned that a propane storage facility had exploded. The site was on the highway we planned to use in traveling to SA. I found a different route. I drove the motor home, and Evelyn drove the Jeep. We parked in the public parking lot and got into the Jeep. Bandera is known as the dude ranch capital of the world. Therefore, I wanted to see some. We went to one called Mayan Ranch that was very rustic, set in the rocks of the Hill Country. The price is $125 per person per night but everything is included in the price: three meals, two horseback rides, and complimentary beer and wine. Evelyn was impressed with the surroundings. We returned to Bandera and I got a map of the dude ranches in the area. We then went to visit four that were very close to each other. We found another one that appealed to Evelyn, and we might come back during the winter and stay at one. We can do that during the week for three days and make it back for Sunday services. We came back, hooked up the car and prepared to leave. I noticed that one of the wires had again separated from the plug connecting the tow lights to the motor home. After making the repair, we left for San Antonio and arrived without incident. We were able to find a Wal-Mart near the headquarters. We set up and got a battery for the small alarm clock we use to get up. We hope it works tomorrow morning.

German worship

Sunday we arose and went to an ELCA Lutheran Church for Bible study and worship. The study was challenging as was the sermon. The parable of the five, two and one talents was the topic of each. We wonder what the Lord is calling us to do in the Valley this season. I really don’t want to bust out and try to make the church service to sing in the choir every Sunday. We would have to do that and neglect some possibilities at Trail’s End. We might be burying one of our talents. Jesus didn’t think much of that idea. It is easy to forget whose you are when retired and “enjoying” life. We left there and went to the Frieheim German restaurant. We shared a sauerbraten dinner including red cabbage, sour kraut, and spatazle, German noodles. We couldn’t eat all of the meal despite sharing it. We came back to the coach, changed clothes, hooked up and left for Kerrville. When we got there, it appeared less than active, and Evelyn has decided that I dislike going to the shops that we spent the day yesterday touring in Fredericksburg. As a result we kept going and arrived in Bandera, parking at a Good Sam RV park. It was a pleasant evening, and we walked the half mile down to the Guadalupe River. We called both girls and returned to the coach for dinner of the final leftover chicken breast and Mexican rice. We had planned to go into Bandera to see what might be an attraction. Instead, I asked a neighbor to come and help me try to get the cable TV working. We worked a while and got it to work. Neither of us can explain what we did to fix it. It was a bit too late to go to town (people said there would be little doing on Sunday evening) so we decided to the laundry because the park here has a lovely Laundromat. We watched Desperate Housewives, switching back and forth to Memphis Bell, one of my favorite WWII movies. After the laundry we came back to watch Grey’s Anatomy and the news. We will have to arise early in the morning and go into town so we will know whether we want to stay another night here. We also need to find a San Antonio telephone book so we can call to find out whether we can come to volunteer this next week. If not, we will go through Shiner, Texas on our way to the Valley. Shiner is where Shiner beers are brewed. We hope to tour the brewery.

Fredericksburg

Saturday is sleep in day. Actually each day seems to be lately. We wanted to take a real exercise walk, so we walked to the golf course in the park. It was a rolling terrain but not as severe as the course at Lake Junaluska. We walked to the clubhouse and learned that the weekday rate for 18 and a cart is $29.50. That is not outrageous as some courses are. We walked back to the coach where I showered and vacuumed the floor since we had electricity. I went out and disconnected everything, and we left around 11:30. We drove to the Wal-Mart, parked and went to town. We went to the Fredericksburg Micro Brewery for lunch. We had a pork chop with cheese on it. The meal had a German name including schnitzel (German for pork). We then paraded the streets for a while, encountering more people than last evening. We learned from a shopkeeper that the art stores would be open tonight. ( I later learned that the information was bogus. I plan to write the chamber of commerce complaining of false advertising. There were posters all over announcing what turned out to be a non event. I had had a couple of beers with lunch but the waiter had charged me for only one, so I had to correct him and pay for the second. I was hoping it was a free refill but no such thing. I mention this because Evelyn kept steering us into the many wine tasting shops along the street. I tasted some but was already over the legal limit. It is legal to carry beer and wine on the main street of town as many tourists did. I didn’t; I just tasted. There are a surprising number of wineries in Texas. We made our way to the Nimitz museum which is closed for refurbishing but there is still a walk with many memorial plaques commemorating those who served mainly in the Pacific theater in WW II. One large plaque honored Harlon Block, one of six marines who raised the flag on Iwo Jima. He was from Weslaco. It was interesting to see how each president from Eisenhower through Bush 41 had served in some wartime capacity. I guess that should have been obvious, but I had never thought of that. We left there and drove east to a wildflower farm. It was decorated for fall but most of the plants were dormant since it is winter. We left there and went to the famous village (?) of Luckenbach, TX. It is a town of three buildings made famous by the man who bought it and his friend who publicized it on his radio program from New York several years ago. It was quite a thrill to be there. I jokingly asked for a city map but was informed that they could all tell visitors where to go. There was a dance hall there, and we had hoped there would be a dance there tonight. There wasn’t. There was one last week. So we left there and returned to the coach for a sandwich before dressing for the dance at the local Turner Hall. We got there early and talked with a real Mr. Luckenbach who was president of the dance club. We then danced until around 10. We met a couple from Victoria. She was a teacher and he a machinist for an oil equipment company. They were friendly but never exchanged names with us. When we left, I gave them a card in case they ever came to the Valley. We came home and went to bed before 11. We will go to church tomorrow morning before leaving for Kerrville and Bandera.

Veteran's Day

We got up late Friday and went to a local motel to use their wireless internet. After I dumped a lot of e-mail, my computer could not get the on line connection to work. I couldn’t publish the blog and couldn’t get the e-mail I wanted to keep to transfer to my computer. After failing several times, we returned to the coach for lunch. We had not eaten breakfast, so we were hungry. We split one of the chicken breasts Evelyn had cooked Monday. She mixed it with a packaged rice mix, and it was delicious. We hooked up the car and filled the coach with gasoline at $2.,13. We left for Fredericksburg at around 1;30 and arrived there around 4:30. Evelyn wanted to stay at a campground, so we went to the Ladybird Johnson Municipal Park that has a campground. We had a can of soup for dinner and took showers before driving in to Fredericksburg. We had read that there was supposed to be an event called Art Past Dark. If it was held at all, we did not find it. We walked all over the downtown area, finally landing in one of the many biergartens in this German town. We listened to a performer while enjoying a lemonade and a beer. We met a couple driving a car with a bracket from Payne Motors in Weslaco. When I joked with them about being so far from home, I was surprised to learn that they were farther than I ever guessed--Mexico City was their home. We came back to the coach after finding the location of a dance advertised for tomorrow night and a Lutheran church that we can attend Sunday. The campground provided the poorest cable TV that I have ever witnessed. The reception is poorer only than the channel selection. I can’t even get ESPN so watching the football games tomorrow is out--at least here. I might drift in and out of the biergartens that will certainly have the games on. This town is where Admiral Nimitz is from and we will try to tour the museum tomorrow.

Rudy's at last

Thursday found us up early. I had trouble sleeping and had gone into the store. I had found some bargains, so after showering, we went in and bought some cheese and yogurt. We came back and hooked up the car for our trip to Fredericksburg. We took a secondary road but nearly all roads in Texas have such wide shoulders that they drive like four lanes. People pull off onto the shoulder to allow passing. We found that we were fairly close to San Marcos and were able to arrive there by late morning. We ate just a snack thinking we would make it to Rudy’s in New Braunfels for a late lunch or early supper. We began shopping around noon and finished at 5. We had searched for and bought two pairs of brown jeans to go with the pair of brown boots we also brought. We also found two pillows and some small kitchen items and a flashlight we needed for NC. We looked at a foam mattress cover that we can leave in NC but did not find what we wanted. We looked at a bedspread for Texas but decided to make one similar to the one Evelyn made for the motor home. I bought some fudge for Evelyn too. She should not eat it (nor should I) because of weight issues, but she loves the stuff. We also found a jacket for Mom for Christmas. She is really the only one we have to buy for since we have had Christmas with the Georges and the Beelis don’t observe in the traditional way. We don’t exchange gifts with any friends so there you have it. We left and decided to go to the Wal-Mart in New Braunfels before going to Rudy’s. It was late enough that I didn’t want to drive to Boerne to go to the original Rudy’s. We loved the barbecue as always. Evelyn’s favorite is the smoked turkey; I had some brisket and their version of charro beans. They aren’t as good as Diana’s in Mercedes but were good none the less. We noticed a sign advertising “Wurstfest” and tried to find it. This is a German community and features many festivals around German food and dancing. We drove over much of the town but couldn’t find it. We came back, and I tried to watch CSI but couldn’t find CBS. It seems that I can rarely get it or NBC when we stop. Again I await the reruns.

A day in College Station

We got up and drove to College Station, TX, home of Purdue west (Texas A&M). I often refer to Purdue as Indiana A&M. By the time we arrived it was 11:00. We looked for the Wal-Mart and moved in to set up. Since it was then 11:30, we set up and prepared lunch. Earlier, I had called Immanuel to ask Suzanne to call Joe’s office and find out where they were. Pastor Edge answered instead so I gave him the request. Instead he left a note for Suzanne who called us to give us Joe’s office number. We ate and then drove to the George H. W. Bush presidential library. I called Joe’s office and learned he was there. I left a message for him to call us. We went into the library-museum and were surprised and impressed. First, it seemed like more of a railroad museum. There were at least two entire rooms devoted to rail travel in the USA, especially Texas of course. It featured photos of every president since the advent of the railroad speaking from a campaign train. It showed both Lincoln’s and Eisenhower’s funeral train. The other rooms extolled the presidency. One display was the interior of Air Force One. Another was the office at Camp David. Another featured highlights of the destruction of the Berlin Wall while another had a diorama of the Gulf War of the 1990s. We spent three hours “musing” throughout the displays. We went outside to have photos taken of the famous casting of five mustangs jumping over the Berlin Wall. At this time, Joe returned the call and told us that Bonny was in Austin. We had hoped they were both either there or in Dallas with their motor home so we could go somewhere with them. Joe will fly to Austin and drive both Bonny and himself back this weekend. We will go on to Fredericksburg and Bandera (the dude ranch capital of the world) by ourselves. We went to the Student Memorial Center where graduates who have had distinguished military carriers are honored. It was dark by now and we wanted to go to Rudy’s Barbecue for dinner. We asked directions of a student who gave us directions but was misinformed as to the correct location. As a result, we got lost. We decided to try for a Pizza Hut but could not find one near where we parked. We came to the coach and had some Campbell’s soup. We will try to go to the original Rudy’s for lunch tomorrow since it is on the way to the Hill country.

disappointment

We awoke with a phone call from Pastor, saying he had someone lined up for us to help. We went to the office to talk with the secretary who called the elderly couple letting them know we were coming. The man became livid, refusing our help. We went back to the coach and ate some cereal. We then took a walk around the nearby neighborhood, surveying the damage up close. We then drove to the welcome center and picked up Texas maps and a guide book. On the way back, I stopped at a Mobil station to get fuel for $2.19. We had decided to do the laundry while we were waiting for a phone call from Pastor. He had gone to the circuit meeting and planned to talk with some of the other pastors in the area. We went to the dirtiest Laundromat we had ever seen. We did get the clothes cleaned though. By this time it was time for lunch of sandwiches. We decided to move on west rather than sit around hoping for an assignment. We packed up the coach and drove back to the Mobil station to fill the coach. We went back to the church and hooked up, leaving for the west. We drove through Beaumont which did not look as damaged as had Orange. Of course, we may have been in the wrong area of town. We drove on to the west on FM 105 through Cleveland. I wanted to go a bit farther so we pushed on to Conroe. By this time it was dark, rainy (we had not experienced any real rain for many weeks), and we were looking for a Wal-Mart that was listed in the Atlas. We drove through Conroe and thought we must have missed the one we were looking for. But the Lord was good and we found the destination. We had chili Evelyn had made in NC and retired early. Doing nothing wears us out.

Working for Jesus

We got up ready to work. I went to the church office around 8:30, the time Pastor said he arrived. No one came until 9. Both he and the temporary secretary tried to find someone who needed help. We even called some churches in the nearby towns, but could only leave messages. I even called back to Sulpher, LA with no success. Perhaps someone will call back tomorrow. We were enlisted to help clean the mildew odor from the church entrance. Many things mildewed and molded badly due to the long period of high humidity and no electricity to run the air conditioners after the storm on September 24. We gathered Pine Sol cleaner and Windex for the windows and began. I had to get on a ladder to reach the ceiling with the cleaner using the brush from our motor home. I was able to reach it and, even though the spots were not removed, I think we retarded the mold. We also washed the large windows inside and out because mush debris of leaves and dirt was pasted to the outside glass. We were finished with most of the work by 12:30. While I finished up, Evelyn went to the coach to reheat the chicken breasts she had fried last night. She also heated some more of the squash we had brought. She seasons things very well so it is delicious. She had concocted a breading for the chicken breasts using corn meal and Emeril’s Italian Essence. What a talent the Lord has given me. After lunch, we needed a nap. The outlet we use at the church is sensitive and had broken the circuit twice before, once while she was preparing lunch. We knew we couldn’t sleep in the heat, so I went back and reset the breaker. I came back and turned on the AC which ran without a hitch. What a gracious Lord we have! We wakened and took a ride around photographing some of the destruction. We stopped at a Baptist church, inquiring as to whether they knew of anyone we could help. The secretary said the pastor might call us tomorrow. It has been nearly six weeks since the hurricane, so perhaps we are just too late and things have been restored. There are many blue tarps on the roofs, but people are either waiting for adjusters or roofers, things we are not skilled at doing. We drove up to a Flying J, thinking we would dump our RV when we leave the area (which may be tomorrow), but it had been devastated and no pumps of any kind were working. We spent the evening watching football and praying that we will find some work tomorrow. It is useless for us to hang around here with nothing to do, so we might just go on to the Valley. We don’t want to get there too soon, but it can’t be much hotter there.

Waiting for directions

Sunday was another blessing. We attended the Bible class and enjoyed the study about knowing our identity. The people here welcomed us openly and the pastor’s message was great. We also were blessed to have Holy Communion. After the service, we took the pastor and his pregnant wife out to dinner. They were enjoyable, and he is about Emily’s age. His wife is 32 and this is her first child. We were surprised to learn they had both been married before. We came back here for a nap and football before going to a local motel to use the wireless network. Most of the services are not working as yet, but we found one that was. It was surprising to learn that Purdue had actually won a game. Perhaps they can win the next two, making five--just one short of the requirement for bowl invitations. When we think of the games they literally threw away, it is disgusting to know the streak ended. We had some trouble maintaining the power to the air conditioner this afternoon but think things will work better if we watch the number of things we have running at the same time. Tomorrow we hope to begin helping someone here.

Doesn't anyone need help?

We got up Saturday, showered, washed off the car, packed up the coach and left for Lake Charles. We called the Red Cross and were surprised to understand that there was little need for volunteers. We went on to Iowa (Ioway) to an outlet mall that was closed for repair. We also went to a restaurant that we had discovered in April. We shared an order of fried crawfish and etouffee. We were blessed to talk at length with the owner of the restaurant, a CoonAss (complete Cajun) who talked much about the area and the restaurant business. We also learned that many of the small towns south of I-10 were so devastated that people are not even allowed to return. One man told us that he had not been able to find one board from his house. We left there and went on to the Texas welcome center where the attendant helped us find an LCMS church that has some parishioners that need some help, according to the pastor. We drove to the church lot where he met us and helped us set up with electricity. We really had nothing else to do but stay home. We don’t know much about the area so we don’t know where to go. We did get a call from Emily and talked about our visit to her home next summer. She advanced the idea that when we leave for my brother Stan’s that she and the kids go with us. That sounds like a very good idea--perhaps it will to Stan and Linda. Emily will call him and propose the idea. We don’t think he even knows we plan to visit as yet. We look forward to worship tomorrow and learning where the Lord wants to use us.

Loving Lafayette

Friday began with the hook up before leaving. The lights seemed to work well and we left for Louisiana. I noticed that the lights were not working after a short while, so we stopped at the welcome center on highway 61. There I discovered the wires had pulled out again. I worked on them and reconnected them within a half hour. For some reason they did not work like they should, but we continued toward Baton Rouge. We decided to go through the city on I-110 to I-10. The trip was a smooth one all the way to Lafayette. We went to the Acadiana park where we usually stay. We ;had been hurrying so we could go to one of our favorite places for lunch: Dwyer’s cafeteria. We shared a catfish dinner for $5.50 and were both quite full. It was also 2 for 1 draft beer day, so I was forced to have 2. We just don’t know how this place serves so much for so little, but it has been since 1927. We drove to Scott from there to get some boudin at Early’s market. Their links are shorter and easier to get into our freezer. Unfortunately, theirs are not sold frozen, so we also went to Best Stop and bought some more that was more expensive and longer. We left there and came back to the visitor’s center to ask for suggestions as to where we could volunteer in western LA. They sent us to the Red Cross who called the chapter in Lake Charles. They close on weekends (despite the emergency) but did tell us how to get to a site where we could get directions. We also got directions to a campground where we might stay. I think we might stay at the VF outlet center in Iowa and might even volunteer there. We came back to the coach and I worked on the lights again. They are still not working correctly but tolerably. We had a Lean Cuisine for dinner, and then prepared to go to Randol’s for Cajun dancing. We had a very good time and enjoyed meeting a single woman who had moved to the area in 2003 from a town near New Orleans that no longer exists. We also enjoy watching native Cajuns dance. There always seems to be at least one couple who is skilled enough to show off greatly. We love to watch them show off. We returned home and finished cleaning the carpet that we had begun before we left. We will try to get away early tomorrow morning.

Fun in Natchez

We got up and both took showers. We collected the laundry in case we found a Laundromat later in the day. When we went to leave, Evelyn noticed the connection to the lights on the Jeep was pulled out. When I went to unhook the Jeep from the motor home, it wouldn’t start. I rolled it back a ways and talked to the woman who drove around providing security and asked her to jump me. She did after I added water to the battery. I let the Jeep run for a while as I worked on the electrical connection. I found a schematic that told me how to connect, and I did. Things seemed to work but need to be checked when the sun goes down. It is hard to distinguish on and off when the sun is shining on the lights. We went off to the Dunleith plantation that offered tours. There were package deals, but Evelyn thought they would all be alike. The tour was very short, but we had a nice director who deviated from the script enough that we could learn things we wanted to know. We walked around the grounds after and went to the Castle for lunch. We shared a dinner of tilapia without a plate charge. The waitress even threw in an extra salad that was delicious. It had quite a variety: lettuce, tomatoes, red peppers, green peppers, red onions, capers and asparagus topped by a Wishbone Italian dressing. We learned from the wait staff that there was a Laundromat near the Wal-Mart where we were parked. We went there and did the laundry because we were nearly out of underwear. We brought only 7 day’s worth of supplies. We should have done laundry in Roswell but didn’t. We were prevented by traffic from bringing the clothes home, so we returned downtown to take a walking tour. We saw a few old buildings but noted that the city, unlike Savannah, GA, was in poor repair. We enjoyed the walk, however. I walked down to the Natchez under the hill site that now houses the Isle of Capri gambling boat. Evelyn refused to go because it was too steep. This from a woman who walks up a mountain in NC! It was not as steep nor as far. I came back up, nd we went to Bowie’s tavern that offered a two for one drink special. We also had some hot spinach artichoke dip and chips. We came back to the motor home and unloaded the laundry.
For some reason we decided to have some of the squash we had brought from NC before it spoiled. We also had some ice cream in some wretched puff pastry shells. I threw the remainder away and don’t want anymore.

Driving the Natchez Trace

Wednesday we awakened early. We heated the water and I showered for the day. We left Tuscaloosa around 8 and drove west. When we entered MS, we stopped at the welcome center and got some information on the Natchez Trace. We had visited Natchez before and liked it, so we chose to take I-20 west through Jackson and then south on the Trace. Before we got there we stopped for lunch and a nap around noon. We were both hungry and drowsy by that time. We drove on to Pearl, a suburb of Jackson, to the Flying J where gas was $2.17 per gallon. We have been told that it is below $2 per gallon in the Valley but suspect this is as low as we will see until then. We had a leisurely drive down the Trace, avoiding two possibly fatal collisions and arrived at the Natchez Wal-Mart around 6 when we had chili and some frozen vegetables we had taken from Texas last spring. We really didn’t want to take them back. I went into the store here and bought a copy of O Brother, Where Art Thou? We really like that film. I have not found The Passion of the Christ anywhere. We will take a tour of one of the antebellum plantations in the city tomorrow and likely spend one more night here. We did see some remnants of the hurricane (uprooted trees) along the Trace but have seen no house damage as yet. It is awaiting us, however. We prepared some cards and letters to send before retiring. The location we are in does not yield any TV stations so I will miss some of my shows. The good news is that they will be rerun in the spring. J

On to Louisiana

We arose in time to thank Tom for his gracious hospitality, shower, see the kids off to school, eat breakfast and say good-bye to Stacy. We didn’t leave the house until nearly 10 and had a very easy exit from Atlanta. We drove to Temple, GA where we stopped at a Flying J for gasoline and propane. I also filled the water tank for our two day trip to Louisiana. We decided to take I-59 south through MS rather than taking I-65 south to Mobile. It is quite a bit shorter that way. We entered the central time zone and will not have to change the clocks again until next April. We got tired and stopped at a truck stop for a nap in AL. We also stopped at a rest area where I talked briefly with a truck driver hauling some sort of NASCAR vehicle for a woman driver named Kelly Sutton who is relatively young on the circuit. We had just driven past the Talladega racetrack and were struck by the number of portapotties that were left in the open field that serves as a parking area. There must have been 50 facing each direction. The driver said she planned to race there next season but was now headed to Fort Worth for a race there. I think she must drive in the truck races. We drove on to Tuscaloosa, home of the U of A. We had some soup for dinner and then walked across a busy street to a Goodys where Evelyn found a nice fall suit for $47 and a pair of shoes for $20. They were both great buys along with the queen set of 300 count sheets and pillow cases for $40. That is cheaper than some we have seen in outlet malls. We parked in a Wal-Mart lot and messed around the store and the Sam’s Club for a while before returning to turn in. I rarely can get the bedroom TV to work on DC current and tonight was no exception. There really isn’t anything I care to watch on Tuesday evenings anyway, but it is frustrating to be unable to get the thing to work. We will try to get to the hurricane area in Louisiana tomorrow. I would like to help the Cajuns clean up the mess. While Evelyn was preparing dinner, a man we had met at the costume party called and said he had given our telephone number to a man who is organizing work teams. Perhaps he will call us tomorrow.