big band jam

We were up as usual and I dragged out most of the Christmas decorations. I can’t find one item but just now thought of where it might be. When Evelyn came home, we ate cereal, and then I rode my bicycle to mail a package of a book to the Beeli boys and then to the hardware store. I found some things we needed marked down 30%. I brought them home using a sling we found at our house. We think Stacy must have left it. We ate our lunch and then rode to the hospital where we volunteer. It was a very slow day, so slow that Evelyn was sent home 2 hours early. Most of the management of the hospital were not on the campus all day. I left at 5 as usual and we ate supper before John and Sue Hamel picked us up to take us to a big band jam at Palm Shadows, a nearby park. The performers were quite good, and we were able to dance a few times. They brought another couple, the woman of which wanted to talk with Evelyn about our planned trip to South America. She has a son in Lima, Peru and she thought talking with Evelyn would help her. We aren’t going to Lima, and we haven’t even gone anywhere in South America. As it turned out, she wanted to talk about a possible diagnosis of breast cancer. They will likely talk again. We then called Emily who requested we talk. It is the first weekend of a new month.

Blessed Thanksgiving

It was Thanksgiving Day but exercise goes on. I went to the hall to help arrange the tables for the big Thanksgiving dinner. As usual, when I get there on time, everything is done. I waited for Evelyn and then walked home. We ate oatmeal around 10 so we wouldn’t have to wait too long to eat again at 1. We finished cleaning our guest room and made the beds for Tom and LuAnn who will be here in a week or so. We drove the golf cart to the hall because we had to take 2 pecan pies and some jello salad as well as our place settings. We had many good items to eat. Tables are organized into groups of 18. Each couple signs to provide a vegetable (corn, jello, etc.) or a dessert (pumpkin pie, etc.). The offerings are different each year but always good. The park supplies the turkey but one of the people at the table has to cook it and make dressing. Sometimes the turkey is good but sometimes it isn’t. Today was a good day. People bring their own drinks, mostly wine or sodas. I always take a bottle of wine and share it with others who don’t have any. We have to clean the hall after dinner and replace the tables. I stayed to help for quite while but left for home. We relaxed for an hour and watched some football before driving to a church member’s house to get some cilantro and tomato plants. They weren’t home. We then went to Walmart which was open. Virtually nothing else was. We saw many people from our park and even John and Sue Hamel. They are trying to get us to begin attending Love of Christ Lutheran Church instead of Immanuel. We wouldn’t mind doing that if it wasn’t for Joe and Bonny and some of the other members we enjoy. We also have been singing in the choir for years. There are so few people who sing that we are hesitant to drop out. We came home and walked around the park before coming back to make calls and watch TV.

money mixup

It was a cloudy morning. Evelyn went to exercise while I cleaned the EZ GO golf cart we want to sell. I put a for sale sign on it. I ask $1200 but will take $1000. Evelyn came home to clean up after breakfast. I went to Walmart to buy some potting soil and other incidentals. I came home and we went to the outback to use the park telephone to straighten out our account with Prescription Solutions. It was surprisingly simple. We had tortilla soup for lunch, and then I went to play golf at the par 3 course again. I had another good round, shooting almost bogey golf. While I was gone, Evelyn planted the many plants she had bought yesterday, using the potting soil I had bought this morning. We went to worship at Immanuel for the Thanksgiving Eve service. We delivered the music for the kitchen band to John who will accompany us. We had a little conflict today. I took the check refunding the money for our Harlingen concert series to the bank but received a call from a 3rd party asking for the money. We couldn’t remember buying them but found a check copy in Evelyn’s checkbook. The problem is that we had bought them for someone else. Of course we immediately wrote a check and waited for the woman to come to get it. She didn’t come today but no doubt will later. We are going to the concert in McAllen with Joe and Bonny next Saturday.

Riding the Island

We were up and off to load the bicycles onto the club trailer to be hauled to South Padre Island. We had to drive by ourselves because of the appointments in Harlingen. I stopped at the bank to cash the check from Llano Grande. We arrived in Padre at the same time the bikes were unloading. We rode about 7 miles total and then went to Daddy’s for lunch. Tom and Sharon Newcomer joined us and provided a 10% discount coupon. We shared a delicious shrimp lunch. We made it back to Harlingen just in time to talk to the doctor at the Texas State Health Department. He was a real missionary type doctor. He had been to several countries in South America and even Igazu Falls. He advised that we wait until Evelyn is treated for the hyperthyroidism before we take the yellow fever vaccine. He said if I took mine, I could infect her through blood contact. We went from there to the ophthalmologist where we learned that her eyes had not lost any power. We left there and went shopping for a brown blouse to go with a brown skirt. We also bought some Christmas items to assemble into a basket to be sold at church. We also bought some materials Evelyn can make into a pillow. She wants to do work that keeps her fingers nimble. We called Janice and took her to meet Don at their new house. There was no electricity, but we looked around using a flashlight. The house is quite lovely. We then went out for a seafood botana for 4. It was good and too large. He paid and then invited us to their apartment for dessert. They also told us about a treatment for the chiggers (we decided they were the bites Evelyn has been getting). We came home and tried it. We will know if it works tomorrow.

Setting up innoculations

We couldn’t go to the park meeting after exercise because we had an appointment with an ophthalmologist. We rode out bikes there and learned that the necessary instruments were not in the local office. We will go to the correct office in Harlingen tomorrow. While waiting to get in, I called the Texas State Health Department in Harlingen to see when we could get our yellow fever shots. We made an appointment for 2 tomorrow afternoon followed by the ophthalmologist at 3. We were blessed to work this out because we want to go with the bike club to Padre Island for a ride at 9 in the morning. Harlingen is right on the way back from Padre. We will have to leave there no later than 1 to be back for our appointments. We had planned to call Don and Janice to go for dinner after the appointments but learned today that they may be in Houston with his twin brother who is having some sort of heart procedure there tomorrow. Since we couldn’t go for our shots in the afternoon, I made a plan to play golf at the small par 3 course I played last week. Evelyn and I rested until 3 when I was picked up. The price to play drops to $7 after 3. I played better than last week and was happy. Evelyn had spent the day washing windows and preparing our guest room for Tom and LuAnn. She also had supper ready: a chicken salad. She is such a great cook and creative too. She used what was left of the chicken strips from yesterday. We asked one of our neighbors to come for dessert, but she manages a store at the outlet mall nearby and didn’t get home until after 7:30 so we ate without them. We will try again some other day. We watched one of the last sessions of “Dancing with the Stars” and Drew Brees play the Packers on Monday Night Football.

We were up at 7 but didn’t have to be at the park where I preached this morning. I went over the sermon and then off we went. We were there at the beginning of the service unlike the normal Sunday when we go after the Trail’s End service. I preached a Thanksgiving Day sermon and people seemed to be blessed by it. I even had retired pastors and their wives comment about how good it was. Praise God! We had intended to go to breakfast with our friends who live in that park, but, since it was 11:30, we went to Church’s Chicken where I had a 2 for 1 coupon. Evelyn loves chicken. We had enough that we brought half of the meal home for another day. We rested and I worked on mentoring Andrew’s paper on Gandhi. I also called to invite Joe and Bonny to come for popcorn, but Joe had hernia surgery on Friday and thought the short ride here would hurt. We rode around our park and then I washed the car and the golf cart we want to sell. Our neighbor came over and bought my golf bag and clubs. I have now sold both extra sets to the neighbors next door and next next door west. I pray we can sell the golf cart soon. We came in for popcorn and fruit while watching some of the Colts/Chargers Sunday night football game. I was going to watch the pregame show but recognize Keith Oberman as one of the commentators. I don’t watch or listen to people like that if I can help it.

First day at the hospital

It was COLD this morning--by south Texas standards. It was 45 and never got over 59. Evelyn exercised and I went for a walk. We both dressed for the weather. I talked with the parks district manager and asked that he hook up the DVD as he had promised last year and he agreed to do it. One of the ladies in the class has offered to help if someone would move the tables and chairs in the way. I had made an appointment with the nurse researching our vaccinations, so we ate a light lunch early. We gave the lady custodian here a clothes bag and went to the nurse only to find she was gone to lunch. We went on to our first Friday at the hospital. Evelyn worked in outpatient registration again while I worked at the information desk. We had the same crew as last year except for Paul who was sick. Evelyn developed a headache around 4 so we left an hour early. She took some Tylenol but wouldn’t go to bed. Instead she worked on preparing beef stroganoff for our expected guests, the Johnsons. I went to get some ice cream for dessert and returned to find her finishing up and going to bed to lie down. We had a nice visit and a delicious supper. It was the best beef stroganoff she had ever made. They left around 8:30 and we did the dishes. We also distributed our medicine for the next week and then Evelyn went to bed. I followed after the news. The high for tomorrow is predicted to be low 60s.

Washing and selling

We were up at the usual time. Evelyn drove to exercise so she could go to Weight Watchers afterward. I walked to the hall and walked to the doctor’s office to talk with Pam about the yellow fever vaccine but she wasn’t in. I left the information Tom had sent me. I then went to the pharmacy to find that the tech there couldn’t find the prescription for the malaria pills. This will all come together someday. I walked back and began working on replacing the screens on the porch. The man we hired can’t begin until 3:30 when he gets off work so he finished only the screen porch last night but it looks very good. Evelyn came home with the news she had gained 4 pounds which is good news. We continued washing porch furniture until lunch time. She made a salad for us and we ate on the porch for the first time this season. We continued working until the Direct TV technician came to work on the remote. He determined that the problem was in the receiver and replaced it. That means we have lost all the movies etc. we had recorded. Evelyn was tired and took a nap. I finished and practiced my sermon for Sunday and then we went to get chicken dinners from the Masonic lodge. Neither of us could eat all of it and will have it later in the weekend. Evelyn had invited a couple for dinner tomorrow night and planned beef stroganoff, making it necessary for me to cut some sirloin into bite size pieces. I sold one of the sets of golf clubs to my neighbor but still have one to go. I also need to sell the extra golf cart. That would make a perfect start to the season. Bonny picked up Evelyn and took her to the Mary-Martha meeting at the church. I kept practicing.

Back to the Horseman

We were up as usual. I talked with Victor, the park maintenance man we had asked to wash down our unit, and he agreed to come at 9:30 to get instructions about our house. He came and we directed him. We then went to get the car inspected and go to the bank to get some cash. We went from there to the grocery. We certainly seem to go grocery shopping often. We went there and bought $90 worth of items. We then went to a Mexican fast food restaurant for lunch before coming home. We unloaded the car and I cleared the screen porch of items that might be knocked off by a pressure washer. We rested until 3:30 and then picked up some friends and went the Horseman, honky tonk to dance and drink. We only stayed until 7 partly because few people came tonight. An Elvis impersonator, popular in this area, was the entertainment. The people we were with had celebrated their 50th anniversary on November 8. They are very German and are a lot of fun. We ate popcorn for supper and then called Tom and LuAnn about the inoculations we need for the trip to South America. Tom said he would research the Internet to see where we can get the Yellow Fever vaccine in this area. We are having trouble getting the vaccines organized. The doctor’s office has been very good in trying to get things arranged for us.

The first golf and bike ride

We were up early because Evelyn was itching too much to sleep well. She had decided that the bites she gets are coming during the night. Therefore, she decided to go with the plan I had 2 days ago: set off an insect bomb in the bedroom. We stripped the bed, brought in a small table, and tripped the bomb. We then left for the morning. She to exercise and I to walk a bit. I found Jack Rogers and planned to play golf at the par 3 course nearby. We had to wait until 11 so I began to clean and organize the shed. Evelyn worked on cleaning the golf carts. Jack picked me up and we both played better than we have before--together. Evelyn had lunch made when I returned at 12:30. We ate and then continued working until 3:30 when we joined the bike club for a “poker run”. We ride around the park and return to home base 7 times, drawing a card each time. The cards put together a poker hand as in any card game. There are prizes for the five best hands. Afterward we enjoyed a supper of carry in snacks. I then went to the hall to use the phone to see it the Winstons were home yet (they weren’t) and to make an appointment with Direct TV. I am having trouble with the remote and local channels. We have business in the morning but plan to go dancing at a local tavern in the afternoon. We have to go alone because we have to give instructions to the Hispanic man who will wash the outside of our unit.

new neighbors

We were up and off to the exercise room to see about hooking up the DVD/VCR combination for use by the women who exercise. It didn’t work and no one we asked could make it work. We both spoke at the park meeting: Evelyn about exercise class and I about ringing the bell for the Salvation Army, the Bible class we will lead in December, and the AARP class in December. We came home and I took my old clothes and drove to George’s to change the oil in our car. I was back home by 12:30 and we had tortilla soup for lunch. When it is cool here, Evelyn likes to serve soup. We talked to the new neighbors from Canada and invited them for dessert after supper tonight. I spent the afternoon working on the sermon for next Sunday while Evelyn ironed all the valance curtains that hang in the Texas room. We then worked together hanging the curtains. We talked with the Beeli girls late in the evening before we went to bed.

A cold Sunday

Sunday was worship day. We dressed in warm, more formal clothes and went to the service here in the park. It was OK and was communion Sunday. We didn’t partake because the elements weren’t consecrated. We believe in the real presence of our Lord’s Body and Blood in, with and under the bread and wine. They don’t. We went from there to our local Lutheran church where we worshiped and did take Holy Communion. It was, as always, a very uplifting experience. It is an amazing puzzle that our Lord would die for the expiation of our sin. He reminds us of that each time we commune. We went to Chili’s for lunch. We had received a gift card from my fraternity brother/high school classmate/travel agent and wanted to see how much it was worth. We shared a very good meal and had a small bit left over. We came home around 2 and went outside to trim the Sega palms and cut down the huge cactus in the back yard. I also spaded the manure into the small garden we have, and Evelyn planted Swiss Chard, onions, spinach, zucchini, and lettuce. She also planted some zinnia flowers. I had to go serve ice cream at 6. There are fewer people coming this year. Perhaps there are just not enough people here yet. I came home and made our Sunday favorite supper: popcorn. Evelyn made several telephone calls to Stacy, her brother, John, and Pauline Flynn. We dressed in warm clothes around 9:45 and took our walk around the park. The low predicted tonight is 42.

The lost entry

What was I thinking? I want to apologize to both of you who faithfully read this daily. I sat here and for got to write yesterday. It was Saturday and we had a great deal of work to do in the cleaning of the Texas room. We hired the woman who works cleaning the hall at our park. She is a very good worker and Evelyn needed help with the work. I did work on the golf cart by cleaning some of the contacts and occasionally came in to watch some college football. I couldn’t get the Purdue game until late in the 2nd half. I also emptied the Saturn hatch which still contained the tub of horse manure. We invited Estella for lunch and then she finished. The Texas room has never been so clean and mold free. We worked more in the afternoon. Evelyn had laundry going all day. We worked on food during the evening: I peeled many apples while Evelyn picked pecans. We then took a walk around the park. We came home and I worked on putting some of the books and other items back on the shelves. I also put some books into a box to give away if anyone wants them. It has been quite cool for this place. We had to wear jackets during our walk for the first time this season.

death in the park

I was up late last night watching a meaningless NBA game and slept until 8. I must stop that. After breakfast of steel cut oatmeal, I went to get a haircut from a retired barber from Kansas. He was on the supervisory board for barbers in KS for several years. I used to go to Mexico but had a disagreement with the barbers I went to, so I pay this guy what I would have paid there plus the parking fee and the tip: $7. I probably get a better haircut. In the summer Evelyn cuts my hair, and we have side benefits to that. I came home and began gathering things for the trailer. It was close to lunchtime so we put off our errands until the afternoon. We want to take a dessert Evelyn had made this morning to a church friend recovering from surgery. She also spent time ironing some curtains. I put the license renewal sticker on the car--this time right side up! We went to deliver the dessert to the ill lady but didn’t see her. We then went to put the things into the trailer and get some dirt/horse manure mix for our garden. Our good friends give us some each year. It was so heavy that I left the tub in the car when we got home. But first we went to the hospital to tell them we would begin volunteering next week. We also wanted to visit a man from our park who had built our screen porch. He had had surgery but had been released yesterday. We went to Walgreens and bought some magnesium for Evelyn. We then went to HEB and bought some groceries that we probably didn’t need and some we did for the chicken salad Evelyn had made. We also stopped at a nearby meat market for some pork riblets. We came home to learn that one of our park members had died this afternoon. Evelyn had served as a co-chair with his wife a couple of years ago. We had chicken salad for supper and then walked to see it we could do anything for the widow. She was resting and planned to go to McAllen to get her children tonight. We tried to walk around the park but the air was filled with smoke. It was just too hard to breathe. We watched “The Break Up” while Evelyn picked pecans and I peeled apples. We will have a woman come to help us clean tomorrow morning.

Thank God for the rain

We slept a bit late but wakened to a welcome rain. It was hard and the type of roof we have in the Texas room makes a terrible racket. In the evening I can hardly hear the television even at full blast. After the rain I went to the hall to make some calls, especially to order an AARP driver’s training kit. We decided when to have that class and our Bible study. I returned home and we worked on straightening the shed a bit. After lunch, it rained more. After it stopped, I took a steel hook to Tom to be ground smaller so I could get the chain link through it. I also rode to the doctor’s office on my bike to get the prescription they were supposed to call in to the pharmacy. I got it and took it to the pharmacy myself. I returned home and we worked on trimming some of our rangy Sega palms, bougainvillea, and poinsettias. It got hot after the rain so we didn’t do as much as we could have. We came in and relaxed until supper. We decided to put some of our storage items into our trailer since we won’t need them until spring. We will put some clothing in there too because we have friends coming to stay with us for a few days and will need the closet space. We took a walk around the park as we did last night. Evelyn went to the kitchen to work while I remembered and edited Andrew’s paper on John Brown. He wanted it before Wednesday so I hope he can get some benefit from it. He suggested that I copy it into an e-mail message to him. We had tried other things that hadn’t worked. This may be the answer we have been looking for.

Begining the medical musical chairs

We were up at 7 and off to the flea market. I got there on time but nearly everyone was gone. I didn’t sell any of the golf clubs I wanted to, but there will be another next month. Evelyn went to the grocery to shop for things we needed. We came home and worked a short while before going to the doctor at 10:30. We didn’t leave there until almost 12:30. The doctor made an appointment with an endocrinologist in McAllen for next week. We also had bone destiny tests and tetanus shots. The nurse practitioner went on the internet to learn what inoculations we need before our cruise. She called the pharmacy that will order the vaccines for us. We need about 5 shots. We came home and had a salad for lunch. I then took the recyclables to the center. What a disgrace that place is! I don’t know who, if anyone, ever cleans it up. I returned and we made an appointment to have our unit cleaned. I pumped up the bicycle tires and then tried to organize the golf equipment I will use. I also grilled hamburgers for supper and then we invited our friends, the Froments, over for some Dutch apple pie Evelyn had made. We talked over our summer experiences and then they went home. We will go to an AARP meeting tomorrow in what we hope is a rain. We need rain here, just as we did in NC.

mail galore

I wakened at 6:30 and Evelyn was up by 7. I pulled the trailer out to the John Deere lot thinking I would have the lock cut off with a bolt cutter. Instead they used a torch. I returned to the park and attended the weekly meeting. We learn the events for the coming week. We saw many people for the first time this season. I am not pleased with the way some people treat us, but I love many of the people. We were on the road to Mexico by 9. We dropped the trailer at the Winston’s and went to get pedicures. We had to wait a long time but really needed them. We also bought a case of Negra Modelo, some Bailey’s Irish Creme, and some vanilla. We hadn’t eaten fish for a while so we had some flounder at a restaurant in Neuvo Progreso. We came home and picked up a ton of mail that had been held for us. It was such that we couldn’t carry it. We brought it home in the car. We spent over an hour sorting through about 1/3 of it. We got so tired, we took a nap. I was wakened by a man wanting me to work for the Salvation Army this Christmas. He also wants me to find people to work 1 day each week. I will try. Evelyn wakened and we continued with the mail. In total we spent about 6 man hours. Most of it is recyclable charity solicitations. We had chicken noodle soup for supper and loaded the car with some items for tomorrow’s flea market sale here. I laugh at what I have. I have 4 sets of golf clubs, and 5 golf bags. 1 set is in NC. I will try to sell 2 sets and 3 bags tomorrow. We are concerned that the medicine Evelyn needs has not arrived and called Prescription Solutions who says that they were shipped to NC but haven’t arrived here as yet. We have an appointment with the doctor tomorrow and may get some more prescriptions and a referral to a surgeon to look at her thyroid. We will pray for rapid success.

Worship at our church

We were up early, got ready for church and, since we were early, continued putting things away. I went out and moved the new golf cart so we could get in and out of the door to the screened porch. We went to Immanuel Lutheran although neither of us was excited about it. We did see many old friends and had a good worship. I also saw the owner of the John Deere dealership who said I could come to his shop and have a worker use his bolt cutter to remove the padlock holding the trailer to our car. I will go there early so we can go to Mexico for pedicures. We brought some Church’s fried chicken home for Evelyn’s lunch, and I finished the shaved turkey. Finally all the food we brought from NC is gone. The opened edible food, that is. We continued with arranging the house, and I went to Tom Crouch’s who had a portable air tank. He came and blew up the 2 flat tires on the old golf cart. I have finally emptied the trailer of everything except the towbar and protective shield. Perhaps we can sell it. We visited a bit with Tom and Diesta before I made popcorn for our supper. We talked with Emily and Stephen for a while. Evelyn peeled apples and will make a pie sometime after we get some flour.

Back on the Valley for the winter

We were up and dressed by 7:30. We ate our waffle breakfast and then loaded a cart to haul luggage to the car, rolled it out and loaded the car. I went back to check out and discovered we were being charged $89 for Friday night’s lodging when my confirmation showed $80.99. I brought my computer back and showed the clerk. She immediately refunded the difference. I don’t think anyone was trying to pull a fast one but do wonder why the miscommunication with the middle man. We fueled up and drove off toward Seguin where we have bought pecans for several years, then on to Shiner to buy 6 bottles of Shiner 99. I am collecting the commemorative brews leading to the 100 year anniversary of the brewery. There will be only 5: 96-100. I drink the beer and save the bottles. We drove on to Refugio where we had a picnic lunch in a park. We still have a small portion of shaved turkey left. We drove on to Weslaco, arriving shortly after 4. We made great time, although I was fighting sleep for the final hour or so. I stopped a couple of times to refresh. We immediately began unpacking the trailer. After an hour and a half, we left to have a Subway sandwich for supper and went to Wal-Mart for grocery supplies. We were home with a load of groceries, and I continued unpacking while Evelyn cleaned the cupboards so she could fill them with food. We both wore down and stopped about 10. Virtually everything is out of the trailer that should come out. Our small shed out back is a mess but we always have to clean it each year anyway. We have 2 golf carts, one of which has 2 flat tires. I will try to deal with things tomorrow. Our place is more weed free than it has ever been. The neighbors must have been watching the weeds and killing them. We will try to find who has helped tomorrow.

Fun with Tom and Luann at our pool and the Wurstfest. We were able to polka and waltz. How blessed we are to have friends and good health. God is good!

Pictures of us touring the closed Schlitterbahn in New Braunfels.

More fun at Wurstfest

We got up and had breakfast with the Bauknechts. They told us they were not staying for tonight’s Wurstfest. Alice had not danced as much as she would like and the music was not all German. One problem was that she had taken a purse and someone had to always watch it. We were sad that they had made that decision but were blessed by it. We didn’t want to sit around the room so we drove to Landa Park next to Schlitterbahn. It was closed for the season but we walked around it and the Comal River trail. It was 12:30 when we left there. We were expecting Tom and Luann Jones in the afternoon so we wanted something light for lunch. We went to the Riesenhaus Restaurant and shared a delicious Jagerschnitzel plate. I had not been so excited about a meal in quite some time. We were so taken with it that we ordered the same thing when we took them to dinner. They arrived at 4 and we went to the swimming pool here and had some wine and boudin balls as an appetizer. We sold Tom and Luann the tickets left by the Bauknechts and went to the Wurstfest. We had a great time. The music was better and the crowd was a bit smaller. We had to come home earlier than we would have, but they had to go home to let their dogs out. I would like to have a dog but wouldn’t want to be tied down like that. We will leave tomorrow morning and hope to make it to the Valley in one day, but if we don’t it won’t make a big difference.

Serious padlock problems

We had breakfast at our hotel, and I went out afterward to move the plants into the sun. Trauma! I couldn’t find the keys to the padlocks on the trailer. I walked around the neighborhood and found a nice couple who lent me a hacksaw. I returned and easily cut the lock to the trailer door. I then went to cut the one holding the trailer to the ball hitch. I couldn’t even scratch the surface of the shank. We walked to the nearby Home Depot and the clerk talked me into waiting to try anything drastic with the lock because it was such a good one. I went online to find the Brinks website and found some sites that talked about selling them. One, however, looked like it might be able to supply a key. I sent an e-mail asking for help. We ate a light lunch out of our refrigerator and then drove downtown to see what it was like. We found a neat German restaurant and a sidewalk sale featuring great bargains on some skirts Evelyn wanted. While there I went to a hardware store and found that the padlocks are made by Hampton Products. We came back to the motel, and I e-mailed them about my problem. As I sent that note, I received a response from the first e-mail saying I should look for a number or something on the lock cylinder. I did and found nothing of value. I sent him the news. He had implied that there were 2 that fit the description. Heinz and Alice arrived and we talked a bit before going to the Wurstfest. We had to walk quite a distance to get the tickets I had ordered online 6 weeks ago. We ate supper there and danced to some waltzes and polkas. We left around 10:30 and came back to find an e-mail from the padlock manufacturer sadly reporting they could do nothing, suggesting that I get a bolt cutter to remove the lock. I will wait until we get to the Valley to do that. Evelyn had called a locksmith during the day and learned that it would cost around $100 for him to come to us, remove the lock and make a new key. I think a dynamite capsule would cost less.

Evelyn at work

Resting in the luxurious EconoLodge in New Braunfels.

These are pictures from Lafayette, LA. I am in front of Dwyer's Cafeteria where we try to eat lunch. The others are of Randol's restaurant and dance hall where we go to dance when passing through. The 2 girls are ones I asked to help set my camera to working correctly. They couldn't.

New Braunfels

We went to breakfast before checking the Lord’s plan for our country via the national election. We were grieved to learn that the liberals in our country had succeeded in gaining the Presidency and an increase in the majority of the congress. The thing that makes us confident and secure is knowing that the Savior who died for us, loves us and brings what is best to us, is still in control. “Though He slay [us], yet will we praise Him.” We still pray that Minnesotans had enough sense to know a comic is not a good Senator. We left our motel and drove to the San Marcos outlet mall. We couldn’t check into a motel until around 3 so we just wandered around. Evelyn found a few good bargains on clothes for the upcoming cruise and bought them. We ate lunch at Bennigan’s, sharing a salad and went to the motel. On the way I stopped at a Best Buy to see if someone could fix the camera. A young lady looked it over and found only a small problem. I hope that took care of everything. We had rooms for us and the Bauknechts reserved and were able to get in a day early. I think we were 1 of no more than 3 guests in the entire place. It had been recently refurbished and was very nice. We went to a famous German restaurant in the area, Oma’s Restaurant and Bakery and shared a chicken schnitzel and hot German potato salad. We were satisfied and returned to the motel. We debated going to the Wurstfest tonight (that would have made 3) but decided to wait until our friends from Winnipeg arrive tomorrow.

Back in Texas

We got up and were in no hurry to get going because we thought we had no chance to get to New Braunfels today. We ate breakfast and began packing. I went back to the breakfast room and got more coffee. While I was there, a couple came in cajoling about life insurance while getting their breakfast. I left and got a call from the manager when I got back to the room. The couple came to a van yelling back to the manager about a room. Evidently he had asked what room they had stayed in and they told him 115, our room. They jumped into the van and left quickly. They had just wanted a free breakfast. They should have chosen a more expensive motel. The food wasn’t that good. We finished packing, hooked up the trailer, and left for the grocery where we bought a pound of crawfish tails. We went to the Best Stop and bought some frozen boudin and pork tasso. I put them into a Styrofoam cooler I had bought at the grocery. We drove west and bought a bag of ice when we got gas. We went on to the Texas welcome center to get coupons for motels. Ironically, there were none for any motels between Houston and San Antonio. We drove to Schulenburg and found a local motel. I ate the last of the chicken gumbo our neighbor had sent with us from NC while Evelyn went to the adjoining restaurant for some chili. We were very early so we spent time in the room balancing and destroying some of the charge slips we had accumulated. We didn’t watch any news or election coverage because I didn’t want to hear the pundits crow and unethically try to influence voting in the later time zones. We can learn what the outcome is tomorrow.

camera problems

We had a leisurely morning. We just did laundry and rearranged some of our cargo. I moved several things from the car to the trailer when I opened it to water the plants and set them out into the sun. They look pretty good. We called our friends, Jimmy and Betty Trahan, to see if they could meet us for lunch. They couldn’t but did meet us for dinner at a restaurant near where we will get boudin tomorrow morning. We left and drove to our other Cajun friend, Roland Simon, to see if he could go to lunch, but he couldn’t because his sister was coming to visit. We went to Dwyer’s by ourselves and shared the normal huge lunch plate of roast pork and 3 sides. We love their fried catfish but missed it again. We came back to the motel and continued rearranging one of the travel bags. The room had been cleaned while we were at lunch so we had a nice bed to nap in. We met the Trahan’s and then went to a new dance place called the Blue Moon. It had been recommended by the woman at Dwyer’s, but she didn’t know the dancing was only Wednesday through Saturday. We went to Randol’s again and danced for an hour or so. There were many good Cajun dancers there so we didn’t look very good. We were home by 9:45 and are ready for another day of driving tomorrow. While at Randol’s I tried to find someone to reset our camera which is taking such terrible pictures but found no one. I will have to try to find a camera shop or something to get help.

Pictures of the Zydeco band and dance floor at Randol's. I was even asked go play the chest board (there is a Cajun name for the instrument but I can't remember it right now).

These are pictures at Prejean's where we had dinner and listened to Cajun music. We also stood near the stuffed Aligator caught by "Boo Boo Begnaud" some years ago.

Bill and Shirley, friends from our motor home/Purdue football days.

The Grotrians at their home. Sorry about the lighting.

Louise, Evelyn's former secretary, and us at Appleby's.

Sam, my high school friend and fraternity brother, at his home.

worship and Cajuns

Pictures of the Atchafayla welcome center.

I am 70 years old. For the first time I can ever remember I forgot to set the our watches back last night. We got up at what we thought was 7:30. I had found a church near where we slept that began at 10:30 and made arrangements with the motel manager to check out around 12:30. When I realized it was an hour earlier than we thought, we decided to drive on and look for a church along the way. I had found cheaper gas in Mississippi when I had searched the computer last night, so we went into MS. When we stopped for fuel, I looked in a local phone book and found some churches. We chose one in Biloxi and found it using the GPS. The message was very inspiring and brought tears of both joy and sorrow several times. We drove on and stopped for lunch at a Taco Bell. Evelyn had talked with Stacy for quite a while so I stopped to have a cold meat sandwich while she had a Taco salad. We drove on to Lafayette and found the motel around 4:30. We were late because we had stopped at the Atchafayla welcome center. We were both tired and took a nap until about 6:30 (after unloading the car and unhooking the trailer). We went to Prejean’s restaurant for crawfish. The telephone book featured a menu and prices, but when we got there it was $2 higher than advertised. I complained to the manager to no avail. We have been “lo-balled” many times on this trip and were tired of it. We then drove to Randol’s to dance. There was a zydeco band and I played the chest washboard with the band for one number. We returned to our Howard Johnson where we will stay. It is very clean and lovely. I had booked it on line last night, and we really thanked God for the room.

Really getting into the south

We both wakened at 6 AM for some reason. We readied ourselves for the day and carried our luggage to the car. It was still before 8. I called Scott again but got the same message that the voicemail box was full. I called his work and left a message before we left. He called us but we were well on the way south. We will stop next year when they have finished their new house. We drove after filling up with gas. We found a Wal-Mart where we bought Evelyn some hair conditioner and then went a short distance south to a convenience store that allowed us to use its microwave oven to heat our leftover Chinese food from last night. We went on and decided we probably wouldn’t make Mobile tonight, so we took AL 22 toward MS. I like to drive secondary roads and was headed for the Natchez Trace. We went through historic Selma where a huge civil rights battle took place in the 1960s. Surprisingly to both of us, we drove to Mobile where we began looking for motels. After finding the La Quinta Inn full, we went to a Baymont Inn (priced more than I wanted to pay). It was nice and we enjoyed it. We talked to some people on the phone because it is the weekend. We were blessed to listen via XM radio to Purdue beat Michigan, knocking them out of post season bowl contention. They had been in a bowl 33 years in succession. The only teams I enjoy seeing Purdue beat more are Notre Dame and IU. The drive through Alabama was beautiful: the leaves are turning and the sun was bright all day.