OK, almost caught up...scroll down to where you left off and begin...

I promise some pictures tomorrow...my wifi signal is quite weak and it takes forever to upload anything...sorry.

hugs

dee

Wednesday December 27, 2006

We are up at 7, and break camp. We stop at the local doc who had treated grandpa and pickup his blood test results for his PSA test. We are on Hwy 59 and heading to Kingswood which is a suburb of Houston. The doc that will give grandpa his shot is here so we need to stop for that. We get to Kingswood about 10 and it takes about an hour for the doc to review the test results and administer the shot. Before we set off again, we have a quick lunch. We get back on 59 and brace for the trip thru Houston. Surprisingly we have no problems and breeze thru town. We will stay on Hwy 59 for quite a while and then catch Hwy 77. The sun is shining and the temp is in the high sixties. Nice.

We stopped for lunch. Had a bit of a snit...who me? A snit? I wanted to stop for lunch. OK...they want to eat in the rig. Heck...I have been a nice girl and have quietly sat in the back this entire trip. I am getting bored back here. You really can't SEE anything from the side windows and I get a crick in my neck cranning it to see out the front window. Grrrr.
We stop in a small town, name escapes me, but I remember the High School team names...Bulldogs. We park by the McDonalds, and Paul walks over to a Mexican resturant to see what the buffet has on it. Grandpa mumbles something about not being hungry, can't eat, we will be eating Mexican "down there". Hmmm. Why does this honk me off? Don't know, just did. There is another Texmex place across the street along with a BBQ place. Paul reports that he couldn't determine what was on the buffet...ok, let's forget that one...I vote BBQ. Paul says he doesn't care. Grandpa says whatever youse decide.... OK, BBQ it is. I decided...for everyone. We go in, and at the counter we review the menu. I order a BBQ brisket sandwich with beans and a diet coke. Paul and I can share. Grandpa acts like he can't read the menu so Paul reads it to him. My snit begins....finally he orders a BBQ wrap. A BBQ WRAP?!?!?! WTF? They have ribs, chicken, beef, pork and a bunch of other stuff and he orders a wrap? The little girl behind the counter goes to check if they have tortillas. Of course...they don't. He starts to whine about not being hungry, he doesn't like this kinda food, blah blah blah. So, me now in full snit, tell the girl to pack up my BBQ beef TO GO and mutter something under my breath like "I am gonna take this old fart DOWN..." which makes the girls behind the counter crack up. I tell Paul "pay her..." grab my bag and head out the door, leaving the two of them in my dust. I cross the street to get back to the rig. Grandpa must just KNOW by now that I am pissed. Paul hands him the keys and walks over to McDonalds. French Fries....he wanted french fries...fine, just SAY all you want is fries...this whiny old man shit just irritates the crap outta me! Back in the rig I eat my half of the sandwich all the while exclaiming how marvelous it is...it is so tender and moist, so tasty, so flavorful. Paul just glares at me. Go ahead, foolish man...say something....NOT! I stew in the back seat the rest of the way.

We stop for the night in a little town called Sinton at an RV park called the hitching post. Grandpa is just exhausted(!) and lays down as soon as we get set up. Paulie and I sit in our new folding chairs out in the warm sun and soak up the sun and the breeze. I tell Paul that IF we go to Mexico...I WILL NOT SIT IN THE BACK ALL THE TIME! Just then grandpa shows up with Pepi. Before I go any further, I should tell you that since Pepi has come home from the vet where he was boarded, the old man has talked to the mutt as if they were lovers...baby talk, coocooing over this dog. I have said something several times about it and have been ignored. Nothing grates on my nerves more than this high pitch voice he has talking baby talk to a freakin' dog. I am NOT making this up. He is walking a fine line here. I vote to stop at a gas station and forget him. JUST KIDDING!!!! But he is getting on my nerves with this baby talk to the dog crap.

We decide to take a ride and see the town. Not much here. Not even a Walmart. We get some ice and head back to the rig and I make dinner...leftover ham, pineapple sauce, corn on the cob and cornmuffins. I made the corn muffins wrong and they stuck in the new silicone pan (nothing sticks to silicone, what the heck did I do?). We watched a bit of tv and turned in early.

We should be at our destination in Westlaco by lunch tomorrow.

hugs

dee

Tuesday December 26, 2006

Paul and grandpa are up and on the road to Houston with Zack by 7 am. I sleep in. I am really tired. After all the excitment of the cruise, getting reset-up and our parties, I am pooped. OK, so I am a wuss.

Paul and grandpa are back by 11:30. We sit outside and talk to our neighbor, Don. He is the President of the Escapee's Mexican Connection Chapter 8. He is telling us about the February caravan to central Mexico. It looks like a lot of fun and since the caravan is manned by volunteers, the cost is very reasonable...$30 per person and then the camping fees. Of course, this doesn't include meals or insurance or anything. Still seems like a good deal. We will talk about it I guess.

A very quiet day. We will be breaking camp in the morning and heading south. Paul and grandpa go to play poker and I start the stowaway process...

We have a quiet night and hit the sack.

Later

dee

OK, here is the rest of the story from Christmas


Christmas Day

Paul and I have to go help to decorate our dinner table at 10 a.m. We are both up and showered and out the door by then. We have our dinner service and help get the table decor set up. There are about 17 tables of 10 to 14 seats so there will be quite a crowd for dinner. The Escapees club will provide the ham and turkey with gravy. Each table decides what they want to serve for dinner and then assign folks to bring these items. From what I can tell based on the table decorations, some of these folks go all out. I suppose that it is because as full timers, the Escapees that will share a Christmas dinner together become like family. I always tried to make Christmas and Christmas dinner special for my family and I think we have a lot of great memories of Christmases past to remember.

After we were done decorating we were off to pick up Zack. Since we are not bringing really anything to the dinner, I asked if anyone would like pineapple sauce for the ham. Everyone said go ahead, so I will need to get the stuff for that. We stop at the CVS, the only store open in town to pick up more cough and decongestant stuff for snotty Zack and to see if they have the stuff to make the pineapple sauce. Well, they had the pineapple...I need corn starch and corn syrup (one of our table mates, Louise offered to let me borrow some from her if I didn't find what I need...hmmm, hello Louise?) We pick up Zack and head back to the rig to make Christmas morning breakfast. By the time we get home it is like 11:45 and by the time Paul makes our eggs, ham and muffins it is almost noon. Not too good for breakfast, and our dinner is at 2. Not a problem...we have stuff from last night(boiled gulf shrimp, cheese and crackers, bread and dill dip) that we can nosh on later tonight if we get hungry. After breakfast, I make the pineapple sauce. We had stopped by Louise and Bill's rig and picked up the syrup and starch. She was laughing and said she didn't know how OLD they were, and wished me luck. Funny that when you cook at home, you have most everything you need...on the road you have to plan for heaven's sake. No way would I have corn syrup and corn starch in the rig for any reason. Thank goodness for people who travel full time...they have everything.

We all get dressed and head over to the activity center around 1:45. The place is hopping. You should see the food that is being brought in...coolers, crockpots, chafing dishes, casseroles and baskets...it is amazing. The smells are incredible. Our table mates arrive and we proceed to set up the goodies...Paul pours the wine and then the entire group pauses for a moment of silent prayer. Our table host Steve, heads up to the kitchen to get our ham and we dig in. One thing I will say...it was great. Company was great and we all had a good time. The ham was a spiral cut and to me tasted a bit salty. The ham we have at home is better I think!

We all stuff ourselves...well, not really. The Ziaja's were still full from breakfast so we didn't eat too much. After dinner we cleaned up our table, said our goodbyes and headed back to the rig. It seemed that everyone had a great time and enjoyed the dinner. There were about 200 people there I think.

We had talked about going to see Night at the Museum at the show earlier. Zack was itching to get out so we went to the single screen theater in Livingstone. We did get popcorn and a drink...popcorn was really good...hot and fresh. The movie was only so-so. It is geared to kids actually, but Zack and I laughed our butts off. Paul fell asleep...so what is new?

After the movie, the rain had finally stopped and we headed back to Rainbow's End. We watched Pirates of the Caribbean with Zack for awhile. He is very anxious to get outta Dodge. I understand. I am very happy that he was here with us. Sometimes he is gonna hafta make a sacrifice now and then right? We don't know what is in store for next Christmas, so spending time with this grandpa and us is important for all of us. I am not going to take the drive to Houston tomorrow to drop Zack off at the airport. We say our goodbyes and I am sad to see him leave. He is chomping at the bit. I will miss him. Nothing was clearer than this...he is grown up and has a life of his own and we will be lucky to spend time with him whenever we can. Our little boy chattering with excitement about Santa's arrival....taking pictures in front of the tree, leaving cookies and milk for Santa...just memories now, but oh so sweet. Our first Christmas in the rig. It was unremarkable and quiet . But we are together. Zack and grandpa celebrated with us. No gifts, a tiny little tree on the table; no cookies, no fruitcake or candy. Just us remembering Christmases past and looking forward to Christmases in the future.

Merry Christmas

Dee