GOOD BYE 2009..LET'S HEAR IT FOR 2010!!!!!

 This will be short and sweet. It is New Year's Eve, 2009, and I, for one, am glad to turn over a new year. This will be our first New Year's Eve in Arizona...a new perspective on it when you are in the desert and the weather is warm. We did our grocery shopping this AM. There was a guy outside the grocery store roasting chili peppers in a big wire turning cage over an open fire and selling them. I tell ya, you see it all down here. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the beef sales were rampant at the IGA. Thick New York Strips were $3.97 a lb., Porterhouse was $5.97 a lb. and very nice looking steaks..I bought 4 big Strips for $10.30 and put them in the freezer. That just doesn't happen in Sandwich, IL.
On the way to the store we followed this guy through Ajo...

"Where", you may ask "is he going with that boat?" I may not have mentioned it , but the road that goes by our RV park goes to Mexico and the Mexican BAJA, Rocky Point. So we see lots of people pulling boats heading down that way. Rocky Point is right on the ocean and lots of people take their RV's down there and park on the ocean.  At least they USED to do that. I'm not sure how the safety factor would figure in now. I was pretty impressed by the 2 boat motors!!
 Last night was another beauty...Our back window faces the sunsets and our front faces the sunrises and the mountains. I took a photo last night out our back window after the sun had set...the picture doesn't do it justice....but you get the idea..

 ...I have yet to catch a sunRISE....we shall see.
As I sit here and do my blog I hear someone singing. They are testing their PA equipment by the campfire area. There is suppose to be music, hot dogs and who knows what else. I asked Den if he thought the New Year's Celebrants were ready for my "outfit" and he just laughed..I guess that means I have to keep my jeans and shirt on till we get back to our own little patio..This means we won't stay really long at the bonfire..I will need my sweats and jammies to get comfy. I will get some photos to post, though.
 Our weather today was sunny and 63. We skyped our kids and had a great visit...The webcam makes missing the kids a lot more bearable when I can see them too....It is 3PM here, which means it is 4PM in Illinois..we are on Mountain Time here, unfortunately our Satellite TV guide is NOT. I have to calculate in the hour difference. This next picture I took just a bit ago..It gives you an idea of our spot among campers...

...that would be our HitchHiker in the middle. We have really nice neighbors here and that is a really good thing! You may notice that there is a blue jug hanging from our Internet dish...That was Dennis making sure the wind didn't destroy our dish and send it into the top of a Saguaro cactus somewhere. The little tree on the right gives a little shade in the afternoon. I haven't done any sun sitting yet...the breeze is a little cool. After all, it IS still December!
 OK, that's enough for now. We are going to take our cocktails by the bonfire later and I will blog to let  you know how it all turns out. I wish you all a wonderful New Year, filled with good health..after all, that's the bottom line, right??? HAPPY NEW YEAR AND SEE  YA TOMORROW!!!!

OUR ROOM WITH A VIEW...AND WHAT A VIEW!!!

  Last night was pretty nice outside and the moon was almost full, which may account for my "outfit" as you will soon see. I couldn't resist trying my hand at trying to capture this beautiful desert evening....

...I took this standing right at our camper..not a bad view, eh? And then I saw the moon coming out just above those mountains, so I tried to capture that also...

I am soooooo happy with the photos that our little Kodak digital camera takes. Sometimes I shoot out of our truck windows "on the fly" so to speak , and they still come out better than I could ever hope for.  I do not have any excuses for my attire in this next photo..it is my evening "uniform" for camping. Hey, a girl has to be comfortable in her own skin..(maybe I am just a teeny bit TOO comfortable).....

...Obviously I was a tad bit excited by our view...

We have been told about the roaming wild burros here, but they are never around during the daylight hours. You certainly can tell they were here after dark, but they never "relieve" themselves in anyones campsite..it is always on the fringes of the campground. I was beginning to think this was all a big hoax for the Winter Snowbirds, as we are called here, but about 2AM this morning we were awakened by some pretty loud "braying" not far from our spot. We both woke up and I just laughed, turned over and continued snoring.

  This morning we took our walk out into the desert. There are trails to follow, but iF you are on an ATV you must stay on the designated trails. In this photo you can see we are just starting out from our park...

...and Dennis is putting our location on his GPS, just in case....Should I be just a little nervous?? We continued on until our park was out of sight. I forgot to mention that if you are walking the trail, you can GET off into the brush and walk anywhere you want...and of course, Dennis thought we should do that...We did find some really neat cactus all around us....

In this next photo, the Saguaro cactus had to be at least 30' tall, (according to Dennis)....all I know is that it is the biggest one I have seen yet!!

Notice that Den is standing a distance away from it....We continued on our walk until we had walked about 1 1/2 miles into the desert, according to the GPS, so we turned back in the direction of the RV park and headed that way. Keep in mind, we still didn't have the park in view and I was beginning to wonder just how far we had to go. It did make me more calm to see all the burro hoof tracks winding going our way. I knew at least THEY knew where the campground was!! We did make it back, and ended walking almost 3 miles.

 After lunch, which we ate outside on our little patio, I took my camera out around the park. I wanted a few more pictures so you could see just how neat it is..Up by the laundry building there is a huge circle of stones. It has some significance which I have yet to find out. The circle has an opening of the stones like a pie slice and inside that opening is a figure...Here is the circle...

....the building is the laundry and bathrooms. They try to keep everything "desert compatible"..And the next shot is the "figure"...

It is a little disconserting, isn't it? I really need to ask just what it means. I know just who to ask, too. There is a resident "Native American" who stays here at the park. We haven't met her yet, but she does demonstrations of Indian cooking sometimes at this little wikiup (not sure if that is what to call it), but it consists of a roof made from sticks and place to cook...and here it is....

We haven't had the experience of her cooking yet, but we were told she does sell fresh Indian bread so I really need to check this out.
I mentioned the Casino that is just a walk down the lane from our park...I strolled up there to get a photo...and Dennis checked my pockets for quarters first...Now, did he really think I was going to actually go in and GAMBLE??? He probably remembered the habit I developed when we were in Deadwood, SD , not to mention Las Vegas! Here is the Golden Hasan Casino/gas station/convenience store...in all of it's glory!...

I do think that is one attraction for RV'ers here...
Tomorrow night is New Year's Eve and we were wishing we could have a campfire, Unfortunately they are not allowed at your campsite...But.... Walla!...the RV Park owners are having a " community campfire" for all of us...and it just happens to be right across from our camper!! Here is the site of our New Year's bonfire....

OK, not as good as one of our own, but what a backdrop for a group campfire. Rest assured I will take plenty of photos for the blog.
I think I have covered our day pretty well. We need a few groceries tomorrow morning, so we will drive into Ajo and hit the IGA (so nostalgic). I have some huge shrimp for my chef to grill on New Year's Day, and I am thinking some fried greasy chicken from town will make a good New Year's Eve dinner tomorrow night. I will blog somemore ..if not tomorrow, I will get back at it Friday with pics of our bonfire!! Lots more to come.....

NOW I REMEMBER WHY I LOVE AJO, AZ

  We slept like dead people last night. It is soooo quiet here. It also doesn't get light until about 7:15 AM. Den peaked out his window by the bed and it looked like we may get some sunshine today. I made us some biscuits and gravy, eggs and bacon...so much for the low cholesterol diet. And then we decided we should do a little walk about the RV park. Did I mention that there is a casino just across the parking lot? We can't see it or hear it from here, but in the middle of the desert..there it is. It is called Golden Hasan Casino, and it is here because we are JUST on the edge of the Totono O'Odom Indian Nation. I haven't visited it yet...hmmmm...If my friend Mary was here, we would definitely have to check it out,....right Mar??
 Here is the view of the mountains from our spot..

There are a lot of trails to walk into the mountains..they allow ATV's here, and we sometimes see them going up the trails. We did our walk up to the laundry and checked it out. It seems very clean and reasonably priced, so tomorrow will be our laundry day, except this time we can put it in, go back to the camper, and show up to dry and fold...We also noted a few unique Xmas decorations still up....

We were talking to the couple on one side of us who are from Silver City,New Mexico, which is at an elevation of 7000 ft. They stay here for the winter and go back to the mountains and pine trees of New Mexico for the warmer months. I have to tell this..When we hooked up yesterday, Den noticed that the spikets on the water faucets were all hanging on little wires, and not screwed on...whatever. So as we were talking to these people, they informed us that the reason for this was that the wild burros come into the park at night,(we did notice mule dung in various spots), and they rub on the faucets and turn the water on to get a drink...I secretly thought "oh, OK, I didn't just fall off the turnip truck", but he reassured us that was the case. This was a first for me. We haven't seen any wild burros yet, but hope to. I did have a woodpecker in my Hummingbird feeder this morning.....not quite the same, eh?
 Dennis needed some WD-40 (a must-have)  and I wanted to find the grocery store in Ajo, so we drove the 12 miles into town..FYI, the nearest WalMart is about 96 miles away. Here is the Hwy 85 going North into Ajo.

I need to mention that there is an old unused Copper mine here and as you drive into Ajo, you go past a huge wall of minerals left over from the mining. It is very cool looking, colors of yellow, orange, brown, green..Here is a photo I took as we drove by..

I also need to mention that there is a huge wildlife refuge here. It is called Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge and it is 860,010 acres of which 803,418 acres are wilderness. It is the largest refuge wilderness outside Alaska. It has over 300 wildlife species, including the endangered Sonoran Pronghorn and also the Desert Bighorn Sheep. Part of it is on the Barry M. Goldwater Air Force Range. You need to get a permit go into it,, which is free, and have 4 wheel drive vehicle. Also, you need to sit through a required movie on safety...and not because of animals or illegals...This Air Force Range is also a place where the Air Force use to play war games during WW II. (and still do,so you don't get to go there if they are doing any bombing practice). At any rate, there are still some live ordinance above and below ground and they warn you NOT to touch ANY such strange looking stuff if you happen upon it. You are to report it IMMEDIATELY!! Damn straight, we will...and drive like Hell to get away from it!! Some cool refuge, I'll say. But...I'm not gonna let a few live bombs deter me from possibly seeing a Desert Bighorn!!..no I'm NOT!!!! Here is a link to the refuge
 So now, back to Ajo...Ajo has a really beautiful Spanish influence in it's architecture..Here is the town plaza, built in 1917...

It housed a train depot, which served the Tucson, Cornelia and Gila Bend railway. They also have two wonderful mission style churches across from the plaza. Here is the Federated Church, built in 1926...

.....and here is the Catholic Church, built in 1924..

    The plaza was still decorated for Xmas, so I had Den snap my picture in front of it.....

 We drove around and found the grocery store...Oelson' IGA market..remember the IGA's?? Actually, this one has come a long way since the ones I remember from the 1960's...this one has beer, wine and liquor...JACKPOT!!! We knew that the old copper mine pit was still here, so we drove up to it ...It is really awesome..They don't mine here anymore and that really hurt the economy when the mining ceased...Here is the mine pit..

  Well, we had found out where a lot of the places we wanted to revisit were, so we headed back the 12 miles to Hickiwan Park. I forgot to mention that the Casino also has a gas station and convenience store, and from what they tell us that is the cheapest place to fill up with diesel fuel....for the low,low sum of $3.02 a gallon..Hey, up the road 1 mile it is $3.12!!
 It is a warm 63 degrees this afternoon.  We had intended to take a stroll into the desert trails, but I think we will leave that for tomorrow. It is already almost 5PM and time for me to get into my uniform of sweatpants and a nightshirt.. I'll bet I can shock the people on both sides of us!!We cannot have individual campfires here, but they said that New Year's Eve there will be a big bonfire just across from the park in the desert..can you burn down a cactus?? One more thing you do NOT do here is put lots of lights around  your camper....That would deter from the dark skies and the view of all the constellations in the desert sky. I certainly wouldn't want to ruin that ambiance!! There is so much more to see and do around here. I will keep you up on all of our escapades!!! As for now,,,,jammies time!!

The HitchHiker Has Landed!!

  Hello from Why, Arizona..about 12 miles South of Ajo on your Atlas for you home players. This blog will be mostly pictures I took on our 3 day adventure. We left Saturday, Dec. 26th, about 7:30AM from Canyon Lake, TX. It took us about 45 minutes to get to I-10, and once we were on I-10 we just pointed the GMC West in a straight line. We figured we could make good time, and never actually "passed" a car all the way on the first day...Here is why..Note this sign we found right away...

....Cars could go 80mph, so we never passed one car, but a lot of cars passed us, even though we could go 70mph and did!! As we left the Hill Country and got into West Texas the terrain became more rocky and actually mountainous in spots like this next picture....

  Our first stop Saturday night was Balmorhea, TX, about 380 miles. It was called Saddleback Mt. RV Park and advertised a truck stop with a restaurant and saloon...WRONG! There was a "sort of" truck stop, but the saloon and restaurant were out of business...victims of a poor economy. We drove around the RV park and really did like it. There was only one other RV there, pulling a horse trailer. The office for the RV park was in the truck stop, so we went in, paid our $20.00 and parked for the night....It was really a nice place...here is a photo of our spot...

....and here is the sunset we had that evening over the Barilla Mountains.....

 

 The elevation there is 6500 ft. and the nighttime temp was 22 degrees. We chose not to unhook our truck for a fast getaway in the morning..We had 428 miles to go the next day.

  On Sunday, Dec. 27th we left Balmorhea at 7AM and drove through West Texas toward El Paso. We opted to take a detour around downtown El Paso and it took us right up the mountains through a beautiful pass ...Here we are headed toward the mountains...notice the snow at the tops....

 

  ...and here we are driving down the other side, with a bird's eye view of El Paso.                                      

....Notice the little yellow sign...it was a steep grade!!
  We drove into New Mexico, through Las Cruces and I-10 took us further West and into a stretch of road that I now remembered. This stretch all the way through New Mexico on I-10 is notorious for terrible dust storms.. It is mostly open dusty ground with blowing sagebrush and the dust storms can give you almost NO visibility. There are signs telling drivers of possible blowing dust and dangerous driving..like this one....

   We got safely through New Mexico with no dust storms and were greeted by this welcome sign as we finally hit Arizona....

  I JUST LOVE ARIZONA!! The terrain again changed shortly after we crossed into Arizona. This area here reminds me of the old cowboys movies...I kept waiting for an ambush from the rocks......

Here is another area that made me look for Tonto....

 We were suppose to stay at a park in Willcox AZ called Sagebrush RV park that night..Den had programmed the address into our TomTom (GPS)...but when we arrived in Willcox and drove down the street where it was suppose to be, we ran into a dead end dirt road...and a few very scary homes, one with a Rotweiller who did't take too well to us driving by him with our big RV. We decided to go another 36 miles to Benson, AZ and hope to find the RV park we had stayed at 6 year ago with the Cougar.  As we drove into Benson on the interstate, I happened to look over to the right and recognized the proverbially named "I-10 RV Park"...so we parked the rig and finally rested..Here is our spot for Sunday night....

   The weather was still pretty chilly...48 degrees, but the sun was nice and warm. We were now on Mountain time, gaining an hour, Thank God..

.Monday morning (this morning), we left Benson about 7:45 AM, knowing we only had about 200 miles to go to our final destination, Hickiwan Trails RV Park, in Why. We decided to get off the interstate and take a more scenic route, since we had plenty of time. We had taken the same route with our Cougar 6 years ago. It is a pretty narrow road, but very scenic, with mountains and cactus and not much traffic. We noticed a more definite presence of the Border Patrol.

  This road goes through the Totono O'Odom Indian Nation. Last time we took it we drove up to Kitt Peak to the Observatory...We learned last time that you really should not haul an RV up a 7000 ft. mountain with a 12 per cent grade, so we passed by and waved to it. As we were traveling, we saw up ahead what looked like police or border patrol flashing lights..I quickly took a picture (quickly is why it is a little blurry), but  you get the idea....

  As we got closer, we were waved on by a police officer and we noticed a few people off the road in the bush...and as we slowly passed by we saw one car on side of the road in the brush all crunched up. I saw something laying out beside the car and I can't say if it was a human body or an animal, but it was very badly damaged and definitely dead. We passed slowly, and Den saw another car on the left side of the road in the brush on it's hood..You know me, I just gotta document every little thing so here is my next shot...not very clear, but I was a bit shaken......

...I took it out of Den's side....God only knows what happened. This road is like driving through a 100 mile cemetery..There are tons of crosses with flowers where someone was killed all along it. Some sites are very elaborate, with iron fences and monuments.. a very sad road.. There is no shoulder, and the road drops off abruptly, so you most usually flip over and roll. And I am told everyone speeds on this road. It is not that far from the Mexican border...Here is a shot of the road....

  Well, we finally arrived at our park about 11AM, after stopping in Ajo to pick up our mail. It is 4:30PM, and we are all set up, both satellite dishes pointed at the South desert sky, our picnic table out,(thanks Kel and Cin), our chairs set up, and now, my blog complete. I can't wait to show you pictures of the town of Ajo. It is really very beautiful..We will go to town Thursday and I will post some then... Here is our spot for a month in the Arizona desert.....

...and yes, it is cloudy today...but I dont' care!! I love it here!!

And now it is cocktail hour....We are two very weary travelers on a great adventure...and we both need a drink....Lots more to come!!!

Feliz Navidad from Canyon Lake Texas!!

 NO PICTURES THIS TIME....JUST A QUICK NOTE TO SAY MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM THE CAVE PEOPLE...... WEATHER TODAY 50 DEGREES AND BRIGHT SUN..WE WILL BE TRAVELING FOR THE NEXT 3 DAYS. GOING FURTHER WEST TO SEE IF WE CAN FIND SOME WARMER WEATHER...I WILL BLOG WHEN WE GET THERE AND TAKE PHOTOS ALONG THE WAY....SO, GET IN THE TRUCK TOMORROW MORNING...AND NO BACKSEAT DRIVING!! SEE YOU ON THE OTHER SIDE...D & D

IN THE MIDST OF FRENZIED SHOPPERS ...A SURVIVAL GUIDE..

 Well.......Yesterday we hit the local laundromat by 7:30AM and were the only ones there, surprise,surprise. We had waited a few extra days to do laundry so we could make it until we were settled in our new digs at Why, Arizona for our next laundry..(yes, that is the name of the town..I'm not sure "why"..sorry about that). We will be staying the month of January and, if we really like this place, the entire month of February. This will be a new adventure for us having never camped there before, so it could be interesting.  As I was saying, we had waited a few extra days to do laundry, so I used some of my "creative" jamming skills and managed to make it in 3 loads..I failed to see the "Do Not Overload Machines" signs until I had all 3 washers gyrating away...Oh well..
  I have almost NO attention span when doing laundry and get sufficiently bored pretty fast unless there is a "cast of characters" to watch, which there wasn't. I spotted a neat looking home hanging on the hill above us, so I grabbed my camera (that thing that is attached at my hip) and took a photo..

You can see how high and what a great view they had....Hey, was that someone flipping me off in the window?? Guess not..
 We finished laundry by 9AM, stopped at the Sattler post office and headed further down the road to New Braunfels to the WalMart and HEB. The weather yesterday was mild, 72 degrees, and cloudy. I kept grabbing for my jacket and remembered I hadn't needed it today. The WalMart was not terribly crowded, surprisingly, and we managed to proceed pretty fast with our grocery shopping..Notation:..I usually give Dennis an assignment of a small list of stuff for him to get in the "guy" area, like sewer hose, screws, toilet sanitizer..fun things like that. This accomplishes two things...first, it gives him a taste of what I face with my weekly grocery shopping at home...and secondly, it keeps him from finding me too soon in the store.
 I never get much meat at the WalMart..something about it..can't put my finger on it, LITERALLY! By that I mean those air expanded packages of meat that look like they are emitting noxious fumes. They are a real turn off. We checked out and went to find my favorite store for meat..HEB.
We drove back  through traffic to the other side of the interstate to the HEB...Oh My God...the parking lot was packed!! We drove around until we found a spot and jumped into it, and just in time, too, Dennis' veins were beginning to stand out on his neck...HEB keeps it's shopping carts just OUTSIDE the store, so you have to get a cart and take it inside with you...pretty smart, eh? Well, there were almost NO carts left, but I grabbed one away from a little kid (just joking)..no I'm not... and we went inside..
  I felt like I was in a candid camera show to see how we could handle rude, cart bumping, aisle hogging Xmas shoppers. Dennis immediately left my side and I was wondering if I would hear a page on the loudspeaker looking for a lost wife. I got out my list and coupons (oh, yes, I do clip them) and it didn't take long to figure out that this would take a while. I kept finding myself behind the same little old lady in  her hand -crocheted stocking cap and matching knee socks. And apparently she knew everyone in the store, as she stopped in the middle of every aisle to give hugs to all. Now I really NEEDED Dennis ..I needed a shopping elf to give half my list to..and just as I was about to lose my calm Xmas spirit, Dennis magically appeared, looking like he had just witnessed a mugging.
 Well, I gave him a few coupons and items to look for and we finally got out of there with our lives after about an hour. It took us another half hour to get out of the parking lot..Seemed every car ahead of us was waiting for the next car to back out of a space so they could jump in..JUST GET US OUT OF HERE AND BACK TO THE HILL COUNTRY CALM! I almost forgot we needed to fuel up before we left the insanity, so we merged onto I-35 to find the cheapest diesel , which we had previously seen for $2.56 a gallon. Dennis is never one to pay more than he needs, even if it means crawling through 5 lanes of traffic to do so.
 We got back to our camper by noon,  unloaded all the laundry and groceries...How the heck did we get all that stuff into our truck?? We took our walk in shirtsleeves, but I knew it wouldn't last. They were predicting a big cold front late that evening. I hoped it would not move through until we had done our required campfire and Xmas music outside, and I was rewarded with a beautiful evening.

Here is my driver and shopping elf, relaxing by the campfire after an exhausting day of Xmas cheer in New Braunfels....(are those white sox he's wearing?? oh well..I have no control.)

I was taking this shot and didn't realize Den had a "ham" behind him wanting in the picture..oops, technically not a "ham"...that would be a pig...this is a buck, but not a dollar bill..oh never mind.

Today is Christmas Eve...We heard the rain and cold front come in not too quietly in the middle of the night. We did our walk this morning early..I heard them forcast cold and 35 mph winds and that is not my idea of a fun walk. We left most of our day/night shades pulled down to keep the cold air outside. ..Thank God for our little fireplace heater. I cleaned the camper and Dennis told me what I missed.....Really, he was tweeking our blogsite so it looked more professional...and here is his seat for most of the day....

  Tonight is Xmas Eve and we have 2 huge thick steaks marinating in the fridge, to be served with a wine mushroom sauce,(one pour in the sauce, and one pour for me..), twice baked potatoes and Caesar salad..As I have said before, this is NOT camping! If the wind doesn't calm down Dennis may have to lash the grill to the picnic table and tie the steaks on the grill!
 OK, I really didn't intend to go on this long. Tonite we celebrate yet another Xmas Eve on the road....I miss you all and wish you could come with us on this adventure. A special thanks to our three children who allow us this luxury of following our dreams in our "extended" years..To  our four beautiful grandkids, we love you and miss you, but now we can skype you and that certainly makes leaving you over Xmas more bearable.
 A Merry Christmas to all of you, friends and family..Remember to make GREAT memories, because that is what we really have left after all is said and done....I may do a quick blog tomorrow....unless I drink too many Brandy Manhattans tonight and my fingers won't work tomorrow...smile...Later....

QUIET DAY...WINDY DAY...WARM DAY

 This has been a lazy day for us ...We did take our walk this morning, though...that allows us to eat and drink more later..The temp stayed right at 58 degrees all night long. About 3AM the wind came up out of the South and blew right in my open window, through my ears, through Den's ears and right out his window...whatever.
 There are some low clouds today and they are calling for some possible drizzle, but so far there is none here. We are just far enough North of San Antonio that their weather predictions are somewhat skewed from what we get up here in the hills. The wind is definitely a factor today up here, but it is warming up nicely.
 When we walk we take a few different routes, but always seem to end up crossing this little foot bridge on the North end of Canyon Lake.

  This bridge is made of some kind of metal and can be slippery if there is any rain...as we found out.  If you turn around from this point and take pictures back toward the lake here is what you see..

That structure to the right is the boat landing. There were a couple boats out this last weekend, but today is a day of "whitecaps" on the lake, so the smart thing to do is NOT go out fishing.Here is another view of the lake...note the homes on the hillside..They are prevalent all around this lake..

  I took a little bike ride this afternoon...or should I say a bike "walk"..Between the hilly terrain, the wind, and my less than perfect knee, I did a lot of pushing my bike along the way. There were some park workers trimming up some of the Cedar trees along the road..And when they do, they cut it up into nice little pieces and pile it along side the road for the taking...and Dennis has taken his share. The Cedar makes a great aroma in our campfire.
 Our spot here is one of the closer spots to the hillside where some of the nice homes are. Just across the field there is a lovely pasteur with a grazing horse. I zoomed in with my camera and took a few pictures of some of the homes we see on the hill from our camper..

  Tomorrow is yet another laundry day/grocery day all combined into one. We are trying to do both all in one trip so we don't have to venture into New Braunfels on Xmas Eve day...Maybe I'm wrong , but I have a feeling the stores will be full of last minute shoppers and that would make for a crabby Xmas Eve campfire at the "ol RV.
For lack of any better picture, since we didn't do anything very interesting today, here is yet one more shot of our home in the Hills...

.....and now it is shower time....followed by cocktail hour and a campfire..Ah, yes, we have a rough life.