Well, yesterday, our day off was a total bust...nothing new with me, however. I was in a coma yesterday...knew what was going on, heard stuff, etc., but could not get up outta bed. Total fatigue hit and there is nothing for me to do, but go to bed. It is amazing to me that I can sleep for 20 hours at a time. You'd think the cat and I were related...all we do is sleep. She has an excuse, she is OLD...going on sixteen years now. I have no such excuse. Poor Paul...he finally got dressed and went to Walmart. Oh well, we have all summer to see the shows, so I guess no harm no foul. The rain yesterday was really heavy. We are expecting more today, severe thunderboomers and flash floods are being talked about. Being in this area, all hills and valleys, that could prove to be exciting to say the least.

I trained with Karen in the office on Wednesday. She is a bit more organized than Lorriane. I didn't know squat after training with Lorraine. I do have a better understanding of things after sitting with Karen tho. Being the critic I am, I think the system they use is ridiculous but hey, I am now just a "worker bee" not the boss so I gotta stop looking at thinks from a management eye...how to do things, better, faster, easier, etc. Very hard to do. The best part of the day was assembling pamphlets for customers...we have some outdated info which with the cost of printing today, necessitates taking a small printed sheet and placing it over the incorrect info with a piece of tape. Viola! Update brochures without costing a penny! I was instructed to the the piece of tape into threes...yup, snipped the piece of tape into three to save money. OK....

Gotta go...am training today with the owner's 85 year old mother who is the "office manager". What a fun day I think I'll have, LOL!

hugs
dee

We were both up early this morning, but were just kinda lazy and laid around in bed. Finally, Paul got up and showered, then I followed when he finished. I had some cereal for breakfast and Paul made a baloney sandwich with ketchup and tomato...yep, for breakfast. I am not sure that would set right with my stomach, but who knows what he's thinking. We decide to go out and explore, perhaps finding a show to see on our day off. Paul wants to see comedy...I am not sure what I want to see. We get our map of the area and off we go. We go all through the main street, seeing all the different attractions on Hwy 76. We end up at The Landing, a new shopping area in old downtown Branson. Very upscale I think. We follow along the "red route" and end up back near Celebration City which is right near our RV park. We head towards Sheppard of the Hills to check out the new RV park at Silver Dollar City. As we continue up and down the beautiful hilly route, we see that there is one hell of a storm heading our way. We quickly turn around and head back to the campground. We had left all of our windows open and this looked like a whopper of a storm brewing. We arrive back at the rig just as the drops start to hit the car. By this time, I am spinning due to the drop in the barometer that comes along with the rain and the up and down of the road through the hills didn't help. After the windows are shut, the downpour begins. I lay down to get my bearings and fall asleep til noon! By the time I wake up the storm has moved on and the sun is shinning. Paul and I decide to resume our exploration. This time we check out the side roads and the outlet malls. We decide we need to have something to eat(while we were home we could have made a sandwich but for some reason, we didn't even think of it!) We stopped at Billy Bob's Burgers and the place was jammed to the gills. After seeing that the service was incredibly slow and all the white hairs in the place were gumming their burgers, and appeared to take forever to do so, we decide that we would best be served by finding another eatery. We hit the Rib Cage right next door. We split a pork sandwich with french fries which was superb. I think I will return to this place!

After our late lunch, we headed over to the theater to see The Twelve Irish Tenors. We produced our "check stub" which proves we are "local" workers so we get in for free or at a reduced price. The Tenors were free. We saved $50 on matinee tickets!

The show was wonderful, but heck, watching these kids made me feel OLD! Such baby faces! Such cutie pies! Very entertaining show, a combination of Irish songs, Broadway stuff, Beatles, Elton John and Josh Groban. We really enjoyed them, they all were so talented and each was featured in specific numbers. If all of the shows are this good, we are going to have an enjoyable summer!

Paul went to a meeting of a group of Viet Vets. The ownerof the RV park, Bill is a member...he was a fighter pilot in 'Nam, and then had a career in the AF. I am glad Paul decided to go. I stayed in and watched Dancing...poor Marlee...it was inevitable I guess. She was incredible anyways...I can hear a little bit, and can't dance!

Well, we both have three hour shifts tomorrow from two til five. I am going to put some chicken in the crock pot so it will be ready when we get off tomorrow. I am also going to try a new recipe for beer bread. Should be an interesting dinner!

Since it rained today, I really didn't even take out the camera. I promise if tomorrow is better, I will take some shots of the park. Maybe Paul will take me in the park's golf cart. I almost had a stroke walking up the hill to the rig from the office on Monday. Talk about out of shape! I was sweating and my was chest a-heavin'...it was embarrassing for heaven's sake. I am not old...but if you had seen me after the little hike up the hill, you'd swear I was dead and just forgot to lay down. Of course, the hips and knees don't work on uneven surfaces to begin with and then ya throw some steepness into the mix, I am screwed. I made a promise to myself...I am gonna walk up that hill every day. If it kills me...and it just may.

hugs
dennise

Well, my sniveling nasty cold took it's toll this weekend and I was wicked sick.


How can such a simple thing like a common cold put a person so low for so long. Thank goodness for my Mexican pharmacy. And Nyquil. I would seriously be in trouble without either of them.

Here are some photos from our trip to Branson. The first one was a sign posted at a place we stopped along the highway to have lunch. Now, after seeing this sign, do we blame me for staying IN the rig and not stretching my legs? The only good thing about this rest area was the free wifi...






We stayed about 33 miles north of San Antonio in New Braufels Texas. A neat side trip was to see this old German town (and eat real German food...yummmmmy) and to go to Groene to see the oldest dance hall in Texas...

We ate in New Braunfels at Friesenhaus and had wonderful Jaegerwrust(OMGOSH the red cabbage melted in your mouth). The food was fabulous. Then we went to a bakery and bought some strudel that tasted like Aunt Anna's and had wonderful bread.

These are some murals in New Braunfels.



Here are some photos of Groene...lots of nice touristy shops with lots of Texas stuff including hot sauces, bear and pecans...what else?


Here is the oldest dance hall in Texas...photos line of the walls of all the country western stars that have performed here over the years...



We had a nice time for the two days we visited...I really like the Hill Country. I guess it's the German influence. With my lunch at Friesenhaus, I had a Haufbrau...very good beer I must say.

We traveled without incident to Branson. Friday night we stopped at a local city campground...Paul's Valley OK. Ten bucks for electric and water, 30 amps. The campground was on the city lake...quite red like most of the water in OK! It was a quiet little place with about 20 RV spots and about half were filled...looked like locals.


We arrived in Branson about 4 pm and got settled. I immediately went to sleep 'cause I was so sick. We went out for a sandwich around 7 and by the time I got back to the rig, I had a raging fever and the chills. I collapsed til about ten on Sunday. We really just rested up on Sunday. The RV park is quite pretty...lots of hills! Can you spell HIP PAIN boys and girls? Hmmm, will be riding my scooter I reckon'.


We both did our first "training" shift this morning. I worked in the office from 8 to noon, and Paulie did some outdoors stuff from ten til two. Their system is a bit odd for a modern campground, but who am I to complain? I need to learn how to know where to put different sized rigs...the spaces here a relatively small...no big rigs here.


We are off tomorrow so I think I will take some photos of the place.

Hugs,

dennise

Sorry about the rant yesterday folks. In a 300 square foot house on wheels, you can't rant anywhere...so I chose to rant with words. We did make a sort of peace last night...and both of us are under the weather today. That rotten cold Paul had is lingering, and now I am doing the coughing along with him, and my chest and ears are hurting for sure. I have a headache and the joints are just screaming. Sigh. We decided to just stay put here at Rio Rafting and RV park. It is a nicely kept park, fairly empty at this time of year and nice and quiet. A day of rest will do us both good. We will take a ride to New Braunfels just to check it out. It had been on my list of wanna see's as it is a part of the Texas Hill country German settlements. Fredericksburg was great and was Comfort. We didn't see Grone or New Braunfels. They have a German bakery and restaurant that I need to check out. Hey, we do need bread!

Will post more later...

hugs
dennise

If tomorrow turns out to be the disaster today was, I quit. I mean it...I quit...RV'ing, marriage, I will even quit talking and that says alot.

We took off about 6:15 am for San Antonio for the VA doc appointment in the ortho clinic. I didn't sleep well at all last night, nothing new there. Was up at 5, and finished the last minute things to lug out to the rig. As we begin to pull out, the break line to the car starts beeping. We stop, and 10 minutes later we try again after The Great Genius looks over the system. We get on the highway and the sucker starts beeping on and off. Then just shuts up. Ok, all is a-ok. We hit construction as soon as we get on 281 in Edinburg. Sigh. I am now ready to go back to bed...so I lay down on the futon and try to get some zzzz's. We arrive in San Antonio, drop the rig off at the Walmart parking lot near the freeway and head over to the VA hospital. After two hours, we see two docs, and find out that total joint replacements are being scheduled way out to September. That's fine...will fit into our plans OK with the Branson gig. So, we find out The Genius needs to have a physical and then a dental appt to clear him for surgery. We can't schedule these until we have a date, which they will have to notify us when that will be. Grrrrr....

We head back to the rig, hook up and head for the campground, Rio Rafts RV park in New Braunfels. The bitch in the box has us on state route 281 instead of I35...talk about traffic...everyone in San Antonio is heading north on 281 and there are lights out the ying yang. After several "exchanges" I decide I will just keep my mouth shut. Nothing I say can break thru The Genius' mental wall. OK.

We finally get to the park. It is after 5 pm and when I had called the park eariler, the host told me to just take one of NINE spots numbered 60-70 (one rig was in a spot in that area...). Of course, The Genius goes the wrong way to the sites...we can't really swing into any of the spots...he wheels around again thru the campground and pulls into the spot right NEXT to the other rig. Nine empties and he takes the one right next to the other people. Then he exclaims "The hookups on on the wrong side." No shit Sherlock...how long you been driving this rig? So, we once again troll thru the campground, diesel engine letting everyone know that we are stupid people and can't pull into a simple pull thru 60 foot rv space. Like I said, Genius. He finally settles on a spot. Under trees. Nine spots and he picks the one with trees. We have Satellite TV...trees are not good. Genius then gets out to start the hook up process. He does the outside, I do all the stuff on the inside, slides, furniture placement....all the fun stuff...he deals with cords and sewer lines...fair trade in my opinion.

He climbs back into the rig and starts to move forward. This was after I asked if I could put out the living room slide....NO he shouts! I yell back OK, take a chill pill....he spits back that all he did was answer my question...yeah, like hell he did. OK, he gets out and then yells for me to start up the rig and move it back more...OK. After I do this, he comes back inside and I again ask him if I can let out the LR slide. OK says the Genius. I hit the button and all of a sudden he starts screaming at me to stop! He says in a very nasty tone, "Did you even LOOK before you started the slide?" Well, like NO, I am at the other side of the rig..." He starts yelling that the fan was in the area behind his seat and would catch in the slide. OK. I stop the slide and turn away and go into the bedroom. He is continuing his tirade of how I never take "responsibility" for my actions. Excuse me? What in the heck is he talking about. I yelled back that if he didn't shut his mouth, I was gonna hurt him when he was asleep. So...such is the first day of our four month odyssey. Grief. Aggravation. The urge to slap someone!

So, I am five feet away from The Genius...and am not talking. Not talking, not looking, totally ignoring. Putz.

And so it goes...another joyful day of fulltiming at it's best yanno? Maybe a good nights sleep will be good for both of us.

hugs

dennise

I was so tired yesterday after moving clothes (well, some anyways), computer and office stuff, music stuff, and my medications that I didn't post. I was supposed to take some pictures of the inside of the rig, but it was such a mess, I decided to wait until later today. We keep loading and loading stuff. But no where near what we brought back with us from Illinois. I am trying to decide what type of clothes to bring. It is warm here, obviously, but who the heck knows what it will be like in Missouri? I guess I will bring two pairs of jeans and a couple of sweatshirts, a light jacket and then my regular summer stuff. I finally bought some new shorts. I purchased a pair of khaki shorts in Michigan three years ago. That's it. The rest are hold overs from when I first bought clothes when I lost the weight. It will be 7 years this summer. Can you believe I haven't bought any shorts in 7 years. Cripes, that must be a record. I do have to say, that for a while I didn't wear shorts...I have a lot of jumpers that I became fond of with a simple tee shirt underneath. I prefer a dress or jumper sometimes when going out. Pants and shorts are fine for casual stuff like a run to the grocery store, but out to lunch or to a meeting, I like to dress up a tad. Summer is perfect for a jumper/tee combo and then I don't have to wear hose. Or socks...just my Berkies. Cooler than shorts and sneakers sometimes.

Paul and grandpa are off to Mexico this morning...Paul to get his crown finished and grandpa to buy booze. Grandpa is driving me nuts...he continues to bring things to me to take in the rig. For heaven's sake, I can't take every fricken' thing he doesn't use...then he asks me what things are...jeez...what do you think round circles that look like CD's are? Have you never seen a three hole punch old fart? Grrrrrr. I live here too...some things are mine that are gonna STAY here OK? Like out of season clothes. Some of my baking stuff...some books, photo albums and my Christmas CD's. Ok, I know I am being a bitch, but NO I am not taking the Kitchen Aid mixer! Where do you think I can put it in the rig...up my arse? It is bad enough that he constantly makes comments like "When youse are gone, I am gonna clean up that desk." "I am gonna go to WalMart everyday and buy what I want to eat" That comment particularly pissed me off...Paul has bent over backwards to make good interesting and nutritious meals for him, keep his cookies well stocked, buying what GRANDPA likes. He hasn't put a dish in the dishwasher (just the sink, grrrr), cleaned anything like all his magazines laying on the table, or done a load of laundry since we got here in October. He lets us do everything, then complains for the most ridiculous reasons...his continual "I can't FIND anything" is BS. Let him eat Raman noodles til he turns into a porker, let him eat sardines that stink up the house and leave the oily can sitting on the counter to attract insects and vermin...let him eat his freakn' cheap polish sausage until he drops over from the fat and cholesterol. I emptied the entire pantry...I even took all the spices...left him some Cheerios and some Ritz and all those stuooopid Ramen things and his cans of sardines....Grrrr...then I went into the Texas room and took EVERYTHING off the desk...pictures, phone book, EVERYTHING except a roll of tape and a jar of pens and pencils and three stamps. I took the stapler and the scissors. I hid the thread and needles in the sewing box. I took all Zack's pictures off the top of the desk. I took the printer. I took all the printer paper. I took all the sharp pencils and the sharpener...I took all the good pens. Heh, heh, heh. Today I will finish the fridge...I will leave him his salad dressing WE brought him from Illinois that he likes a lot and missed...Lonzotti's sweet Italian...I will leave him the milk for the Cheerios, and his creamer. I am going to take everything down to the bread and butter pickles. I am gonna take the bread we like which is a good healthy brand that costs like $2.75 a loaf and he can eat that bread from Walmart that costs 30 cents a loaf and tastes like paste. He can go to WalMart till he croaks. OK, I am thru ranting. I just can't wait until he has to do this stuff himself...of course, he always says he does things better than us, he hates our food, yada yada yada. Go for it old man. And remember, no one will be here to remind you that a soak in the hot tub does NOT equal a BATH. Pfffftt! I feel for the stupid ugly fat dog...he may never get another bowl of water. Oh well, and so it goes.

Well, I hafta go shower and get ready for my doctor appointment. I need maintenance prescriptions for like 6 meds...I have three months which was my last order from the rat bastards at Cigna. I start my Valley Baptist coverage now. Pays better than the rats anyways.
Just hope this is not too much for the doc to write...and too bad if it is! I'm on a roll!

Later...
hugs
dennise

Woke this morning and everything, including my butt, just ached. That's what I get for working so hard in the rig. Oh well, I could be like Paul...101 temp and a bit on the cranky side. I would be too...he wants to get lots done and he feels like crap. Oh well, what do they say in NY...C`est la vie ?

I worked on the bathroom today. Shower was really streaked with some crud that Windex all purpose cleaner wouldn't touch so I got out my trusty squirt bottle of straight up vinegar. The miracle liquid I have to say. Also had some rusty spots on the floor which I liberally doused with Clorox cleaner and let sit. The gold frame is actually holding up well considering how cheap and crappy it is. Paul brought in his undies and some pantry stuff...how does his mind think I wonder? Spices and BBQ sauce and tidy whities? Hmmmm. Still scratching my head over that connection...! I also cleaned the toilet (never again...next time it is Paulies job) and cleaned out the medicine cabinet. Lots of stuff leaked over the summer. Grrrrr. He told me he emptied the damm thing...dried and baked on Vick's green slime all over, even dripped into the lower shelf. Then I had to get the goof-off stuff to get rid of the residual adhesive from the stupid self-stick calendars he put all over the place. I guess he just doesn't get that if it sticks, it leaves stuff behind...stuff that is glue...adhesive that would keep the Shuttle together for cripes sake. (how do you like my brown to represent you know what up above...I am just sooooo talented, yanno?) So after smelling this gosh-awful goof-off stuff and getting high from the fumes, I was able to get the glue off. When Paul came back to the rig I told him if he ever stuck anything with self adhesive glue on it anywhere in the rig again, he would have to lick the crap off the surface. Then he just looks at me and takes something and throws it in the condiment basket I had just reorganized and cleaned out of all the crap in there! Screws do not belong in the basket with napkins, salt and pepper and the sugar shaker. Nor does some little black caplike thingy that he found on the floor, Zack's forgotten contacts container OR the coupon for Popeye's Chicken that is expired (and there is NO Popeye's in the Valley...) Geez...no wonder everything looks messy. Well, thank goodness we are leaving...I have given up cleaning up the crap grandpa leaves on the island in the kitchen. Everything from his hearing aids (eewwwww, I know) to slips of paper with gosh knows whose phone number...an old keyring with no keys, his name tag...the list goes on and on.

Channel 4, KGBT TV in Harlingen called this afternoon. They want to interview grandpa about his parachute jump. Ok. I know I am a bitch, but I have had enough of this for over a week now. I am sick to death of it. Truly tired of watching the video (can we count to 500 boys and girls...grrr!) and he looks at the photos several times a day. This afternoon, he invited the entire park (or what's left of the residents) over to the house to view his masterpiece. I stayed in the motorhome like some sulky brat. I am sorry. I have just have enough. Plus, if I hear one more time that he is a ladies man, dancing machine or karaoke master, I am going to puke. Can you TELL I need to get outta this place. Come on Wed!

Well, since today we were invited out for dinner, I guess I can end my tirade for now. Tune in tomorrow for more of....what pisses me off.

hugs
dennise

Well, it finally cooled off to normal for this time of year temps. 104 and sunshine is nice, but, it can be wilting to say the least. With the continuous breeze, even 104 can be tolerable, but being the wuss I am, I stay in the AC.

With the cooler temps, we were able to get into the rig to start cleaning and packing. Lots of stuff was taken out to the MH but it is sitting all over the place. I need to condition the maple cabinets and the island. I try to do that at least twice a year. Some of the cabinets have scratches and dings from various disasters over the year especially the large sink front. Hmmm. We talked about putting a backsplash around the stove(it's just wallpaper right now.) and are leaning towards stainless steel or tin...they have some great designs out right now, that can be used either as back splash or ceiling, similar to old ceiling tin. Maybe a sheet of the backsplash will be the answer to the sink cabinet door. Hmmm. Keep this to myself...Paul hates when I start "renovating". Putz.

I cleaned out the kitchen sink which got really disgusting over the winter. Ick. Why does dish soap ooz outta the pump bottle when left to it own devices for a couple of months? I keep forgetting to take it in and every year, dish soap has invaded the sink areas. It's like concrete in the heat, so I had to scrape it off the bottoms of both sink sides. Nasty. Then it was on to the fridge. We had put the innards of the fridge in the stupid dishwasher...am I dumb...and two plastic shelfs got warped. Grrrr. I hate plastic. A replacement shelf that slides into the door is like $40. Maybe I will take a heat gun and try to soften them up and reshape them...or do without. $40....pfffft! I think I will be creative and find something to substitute.

I wiped down all the cabinets and woodwork in the living area and the bedroom. Bathroom gets tackled tomorrow. I can do about 10 minutes of work then have to sit down for ten minutes! Then I took the bedroom and dash curtains into the house and washed and dried them. I redid the hems on the bedroom sets as the hemming tape I used was not holding up. I redid the hemming tape and then hand hemmed all four curtains. I had to hunt all over the place to find a stupid needle and thread. Must still have my sewing box packed someplace. I am hurting right now tho...and I am sure I will feel this tomorrow.

I passed on going to the Elks tonight...didn't feel up to it. Paul and I accomplished quite a bit today. He washed all the inside windows and the window tracks...all the vents and the ac ducts. He can barely move his arms at this point. Aren't we a pair?

Well, I promise to take some pictures when we get finished so you can see all the modifications we have made.
hugs

dennise

Last night we went to the Elk's club for Chicken Fried Steak. Really good stuff...salad bar, mashed potatoes, a huge meat patty, good cream gravy and a nice ear of corn. Last night, she brought me GREEN BEANS....OMG... the fat ones, with the humongous seeds in 'em. Ick.Ick Ick. I know, you all think I am nuts. I detest green beans...and peas. Blame my ornery father. He made me sit at the table and tried to get me to eat these cold, congealed veggies (from a can btw...eeeew) that I flatly refused to put near my mouth. One night I sat until my bedtime of 8:30 with those crappy beans on my plate. I wasn't gonna eat them and he wasn't gonna let me get away until I ate the suckers. Nope. Beat me, slap me, yell at me. I ain't eating no canned green beans with the fat seeds. Never. I won. My mother-in-law Catherine, tried for 20 years to get me to eat either peas or fat green beans. She would make beans with some sort of "sauce" from tomato soup! God, is there no justice in this world...ruining a perfectly good can of tomato soup...for FAT GREEN BEANS? She failed. My mother tried that nasty green bean casserole ("These are NOT green beans with the fat seeds, they are french cut skinny beans, and are delicious with mushroom soup in them." )Jeez, that was even worse! Green beans with fungus soup on them? Are you kidding me? Our friend Bev invited us to dinner and made a delicious hamburger and veggie soup. It had beans and fat green beans in it. When we passed our dishes over to her to help clean the tables, Bev says "Hey, who picked out all the peas and beans?" Every eye in the room turned to me. Of course, I got a lecture and to prove a point she put my bowl on the floor and her dog, Misty, gobbled up the peas and fat beans. This proves nothing to ME. Misty is a dog for cripes sake, she eats cat shit if she can find it, and licks other dogs asses. 'Nough said.

I just talked to Zack. He is at work at the putt-putt place in St. Louis Union Station. He attended a "job fair" at SIUE yesterday. He said there were long lines for instant interviews, and the layout of the fair was really poorly done. He said he talked to everyone that didn't have a line. Like Decatur. They were quite interested in him and the one principle of a high school said he would call Zack personally to interview him. OK, I guess Decatur is a possiblity. Like Zack says...a job is a JOB.

Paul went off to Mexico today to have his teeth cleaned. He and I have wanted to do that and just never go around to it. So here it is, 103 degrees in the shade, and gufus wants me to walk around Mexico in the heat. Sure. Be my guest. I will stay here and work on getting stuff together for our journey to Branson.

I cannot wait to get the hell outta here. I have been in one spot way way too long...
Plus, I need to talk to someone under the age of 80...

hugs

dennise

Well, after several hours of fiddling around with my JVC hard drive movie camera, I discovered that the files it creates are not Windows compatible. Crap. I found a video file conversion freeware that I used to convert the MOV files to whatever would work. Grrrrr.

So, here is my latest effort, with titles AND credits, but no background music. Just wanted to get 'er done and uploaded. I will work on audio when I have more patience.

Enjoy....

We are NEVER going to hear the end of this little escapade...

hugs,

dee

It's Tuesday and I am finally posting about our big weekend. Grandpa made his tandem jump on Saturday. We drove to Beeville, Texas, about 155 miles north of Weslaco, near Corpus Christi. We left about 9:15 am. Here is a smiling Gene with his lady friends Dorothy and Jeannie prior to leaving for the day.

We stopped for lunch at the Cracker Barrel in Corpus Christi after checking into our hotel. The hotel was quite a disappointment after viewing the photos as listed on the internet. It looked beautiful but is really run down. What do ya want for 6000 points I guess. Other Choice Hotels are like 20000 points in Corpus. You surely get what you "pay" for.

Grandpa was really quiet at lunch and barely spoke on the way to Beevilee. Hmmm, wonders I...is he getting cold feet? Nah. Scared? Perhaps, we shall see! His tandem jump is scheduled for 4 pm. We arrive at 3:10 and the 3 pm jumper is still waiting. Finally after about an hour's delay, the 3 pm birthday girl jumps. This was her birthday present from her folks...she has a rugrat, about three that his Daddy can't handle and the kid acted up the whole time Mommy was up in the air. I have NO patience for bratty kids. We all got neck cramps trying to see the plane and the jumpers. Finally we see them and the landing is very good. The gal seems quite happy. By now it is 4:30. We are instructed to go back to the headquarters just outside the Beeville Municipal Airport. We have forms and forms to complete (these folks are really covering their a$$ from a legal standpoint let me tell ya!) and we watch a film. Gene is signing his name and not paying attention to the film, so Dorothy scolds him and says if you don't watch this movie, you might get hurt. I think he is overwhelmed. The instructor comes in and asks the gal who works there, Misty, how old Gene is. "91?" Alex the instructor is a bit unsettled. He's never had someone this OLD jump with him. He takes grandpa and puts him in a rigging and hangs him from the ceiling like they do jumpers during training. He makes grandpa do all kinds of things. After he does each maneuver, Alex apologizes and says he just wanted to make sure Gene could do all the things he would have to do. He says Gene doesn't look or act 91.

By now, it is like 5:45. I am tired and bored. We are finally off to the airport for the jump. After another 20 minutes, they harness Gene up, the photographer jumper arrives and begins to tape, beginning with a brief interview. Here are some photos of the prep and getting on the plane.

This is Alex, the instructor harnessing him up. Alex is quite a big guy, about 6'6". I wouldn't mind diving with him either..

Gene is trying on goggles to go over his glasses but decided to just take off his specs. Sure hope he can see up there. The other guy is the photographer, can't remember his name, but he too was quite a large fellow.

Getting on the little plane...That's what would keep me from doing this...that plane was held together with rubber bands and duck tape...no way would you see me climbing aboard.

Shutting the door and beginning the taxi.
Well, it took FOREVER to get to the right hight(10000 feet maybe?) Finally we see the shoots of both the photog and grandpa. It looks as if he got quite a ride. We had trouble getting either still shots or movie clips when they were so high up, but we managed a few...

Here we go!

I was able to get some good video footage which I am going to work on uploading next. I should be able to add the video here. I also plan on putting it on YouTube. I am not yet proficient at the video stuff so this should be a learning experience of sorts. Grandpa got up and I think he was in a stupor, he couldn't even talk. The photog who had landed first, hit hard and tore up his leg a bit. We finally unhooked the old fart and off we went for dinner. They told us an hour for the video. After a so-so dinner at Chili's (but the beer was cold...) we went back. Unfortunately, the crew decided to do some free fall diving and didn't return to the office to work on the video. They promised to send it FedEx on Tuesday. Well, it still isn't here, so Paulie called and left a nasty message. You know Paulie, he figures nasty works wonders, the putz.

Well, that's all for now. It's gonna be 100 today and 103 tomorrow. I forced Paul to run the AC...I don't CARE if the nights are freakin' cool, the days will kill ya!

hugs,

Dennise

I am not a happy camper, pun intended, this morning. I went to my Flickr page to upload some photos, and I have used up all my free space. Drats. They want $25 per year to keep using it. Crap. Crap. Crap. I am checking out Snapfish to see if they have limits. I suppose I could delete the older stuff but I like having the pictures on line. I have them all on backup disks, but that is a PIA to find a particular photo.


Paul is off playing shuffleboard with granpda. The numbers are dwindling here this week...everyone is going home for either taxes or for the summer. Hmmm. Today Paulie and I have a birthday. We have decided no cake...we are going to go to Corpus Christi for the weekend. We have scheduled grandpa's tandem sky dive for tomorrow, Saturday at 4 p.m. up in Beeville. That is about 50 miles north of Corpus Christi. We had bonus points from the credit card and got two free rooms, and we will have not only a video of him jumping, but also about 60 photos. The photog will jump with him and the guy he's tandeming with. I can't wait to write about it. I keep trying to convince him to take the dog, and stick his body in the jumpsuit and let his head stick out. We could be rich if the tongue flies outta his face and streams upwards in the jump...America's Funny Home Videos here we come! I am going to put a part of the video on You Tube. "91 year old man skydiving"...look for it!

We have accepted a workamping position in Branson MO. Well, Paul is gonna workamp. I will prolly just do a few hours a week in the office. They have promised this would not be a problem if Paul did most of the work. We have to give them 24 hours of work for a free full hook up campsite. Considering in areas like Branson, full hookups are about $60 a day. Of course weekly and monthly sites are less, but nonetheless, primo in a vacation destination.
We will be getting show tickets that are either free or deeply discounted...this way when folks ask what is a good show, we can recommend our favorites. The campground is called Branson's Shenanigans RV park. Here is the web page: http://www.bransonrvparks.com/
It is a small 40 slot site so I think we will get our feet wet slowly. We had posted our "resume" on Workamper.com and we had 40 potential employers view our info and got 12 offers for interviews. I think that was pretty good, this late in the season. Most campgrounds in vacation spots line up workers sometimes a year in advance. Interesting biz, working for a camping spot. All the govt parks, state, local and national are non-paying and ask for about 32 hours of volunteer work for the host position with full hookups. Same for the Corps of Engineers. But they have the best camping spots, mostly west of the Mississippi. Private campgrounds require like 10 to 12 hours per person for the hookup and then pay $ per hour, ususally minimum wage, for hours after that. But who wants to work 35 to 40 hours a week. We are retired for cripes sakes. This gig will allow us to enjoy Branson for a couple of months with the benefits of the reduced show costs. We would never get to see that many shows or stay long at $60 bucks a day. Plus, we can eat at home, forget those stupid buffets. Eeeewww, they all suck. We will journey to San Antonio on the 16th for Paul's appointment with the VA, then head north. Gee, what to pack? It still is COLD in MO in April. Ick. Paul is confident he can work the job for at least 4 months. We are committed til Sept. 15th. His hip bothers him, but he wants to do the Branson thing. Who am I to argue?

Well, I need to go to the doctor and have some crappy test to see how much urine I can hold with out losing it. Betcha ALL wanted to know that right? TMI.

BTW, it is warm and sunny here...has been all week...beautiful breezes. Perfect weather.
hugs,

Dennise

I guess I flubbed again...said to come back for picutres and whoopsie, nada!

So so sorry.

Here is a pic of Zack, the only pic I got when he was here!

Here is a beautiful sunset over the palms here in the park....

Here is our Easter dinner...Paulie was so proud of that stupid ham!

I have a few photos to upload to flickr, but won't be able to do that until tonight.

hugs

Dennise