A Trip Down Memory Lane...with our Keystone Cougar..

We bought our first fiver in 2003, two months after we bought our GMC 2500 diesel truck to pull one with. In 2005, we took our first long trip..We went all the way to California and back in one month..What the Heck were WE smoking??
We did some camping in Texas on the way..but usually, we just stayed one night in one place, and packed it up and moved on the next. We were new at it...and dumb..We were retired, after all..what was the big hurry?? Here are a few photos of that trip.

Above 3 photos are at Perdernales State Park, in Texas.  Very nice park!

These two were taken at Luckenback, TX...No, we didn't see Waylan, Willie and "the boys"..but we did see some great grinnin' and pickin'..

In Arizona, we saw a sign for a road leading up the mountain to Kitt Peak Observatory..so..We drove the road to the top and toured it..Then we had a harrowing drive DOWN that steep grade road pulling our Cougar..Hey, as I said, we were DUMB!!

This was back when you could still drive across Hoover Dam..but Border Patrol stopped every vehicle and searched it...Now they have made a road that gets you across without going over the dam..

I'm soooo glad we got to do this crossing one last time!..Our daughter, Chris, just happened to be goind to Vegas while we were out there, so we agreed to meet up with her at New York, New York Hotel and Casino for dinner ...and an adult beverage...This was before she married her now hubby.

Good gravy!!! Dennis and I were MUCH younger...and somewhat more "fluffy" back then!! We spent one night at Sam's Town RV park and left ...FYI, Sam's Town is NOT a good place...There were gunshots over the razor wire wall next to our camper...We got the Heck out of Dodge fast the next day, and ended up at Alamo Lake State Park in Arizona..We actually spent 3 nights there..

On our way back East, we stopped at Patagonia State Park,, North of Nogales AZ. We decided we wanted to walk across the border to Nogales, MX..This was our first experience doing that and from what I hear, Nogales is no longer considered safe...

We bought some great turquoise and had a few beverages and salsa at a restaurant there. We checked to make sure it was frequented by "gringos" like us...very good Margaritas too!!!
On our way back, we stayed in West Texas at Eagle's Nest RV Park in Van Horn, TX...This park was great, and lots of campers stopped there..After all, there aren't many places to stay out there in them thar hills!!

That picture above is Chuy's Mexican Restaurant...and the famous football star/commentator, John Madden was known to frequent that place...The story has it that he was afraid to fly and drove to all of his "gigs'. The food was great,and they had Madden's special chair there with his name on it!
From here we were back safely ensconced in Texas again, and stayed at Canyon Lake , Potter's Creek Campground, North of San Antonio..This is a great Army Corp park and had turned into one of our fav's...
The following 4 pics were taken at Gruene, TX, just North of San Antonio and New Braunfels, TX...We love this little town..It has one of the oldest dance halls in Texas where George Strait got his start..Plus, the beautiful blue Guadalupe River..

On our way home from Texas we now make it a plan to stay at Lake Wappapello, in Southern Missouri..From there we can make it home on one day...Here are a couple pics of that place..

WHEW!!!! I am exhausted from just putting this blog together..one trip, one month, one stupid couple of new RV'ers...Yep..that would be US!!!!

Taylor's Madrigal Performance..This will put anyone in a Christmas Mood!

No words to describe the talents of these kids...so I am attempting to post 1-2 videos.  We attended the Kaneland High School Madrigal Dinner this last weekend..It was fabulous!!! Be sure to turn up your sound and enjoy these..This first one is our granddaughter with a solo in a very beautiful song.

I will attempt a couple more:

We are sooooo very proud of Taylor and all of the wonderful voices of these talented kids...I will now post a short video of our Jester in action on stage...this is a very short one!

OK...I hope you viewed  these..They are so wonderful and really fun to watch and listen to around the holidays!! Thanks for tolerating my bragging!! We are blessed..

Another epic Cave-A-Palooza...and.. proud grandparents

We had a great family get together last weekend at the Cave Casa...

We had lots of food and drink, great family and friends...

Here we all are...Terrie, Chris, me, Kelly and Dennis...what a group, right??Our granddaughter is performing in the Kaneland High School Madrigal Dinner again the this year, and she is the Jester again...They had a mini performance at the Sugar Grove Library and some of the family went to watch..

Dennis and I are going to see one of the 5 performances they are putting on at the high school this weekend, so you know darn well I will probably post more...

We had a very pleasant surprise concerning Taylor this weekend..She was accepted at Ball State University Honors program and awarded a Presidential Scholarship..

Taylor will major in Criminal Justice with a minor in musical theater...but that could change in the 4 years...

What a wonderful weekend...but I could have done without the 8" of snow we got yesterday...I am having a hard time adjusting to NOT going South for the Winter...I need to think like a Cardinal,and just enjoy the snow......nope,not happening.

Giving Thanks

We have been busy here at the Cave Casa with family stuff…We went to Zionsville,IN to babysit the Wolff Cubs so their parents could go to Jamaica for 5 days.  Aiden is now 8 and Maddox is 5..No more diapers to change or lost pacifiers to look under a crib for…AND…no more cribs, either!!! Both kids are in school now, too. The school bus picks them up on the corner in front of their house at 8:24AM..NOT 8:23…NOT 8:25….AT 8:24!!!! And they get dropped off at the same spot at 3:45PM…exactly!!!  We arrived Friday afternoon . Chris and John had a 5AM flight on Saturday,  and they arrived back home on Wednesday evening at 9:30PM..The most time we spent with the boys was the weekend because they were in school Mon, Tues. and Wed.…

The boys had a 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle that Papa got roped into helping with. Well, not really “roped in”..Dennis is obsessed with these puzzles!  We have been known to take as many as 6 of them in our Hiker when camping..We even had a special cloth to put the puzzle on while assembling it.. That way,  you could fold it up and put it away, and still use our RV table to eat on..Now THAT is ridiculous!! .It took 2 boys and one Papa 2 days to finish it..The boys are pretty darn good at puzzles on their own too!

They finished this one in no time…working together…This isn’t always the case!!!
Satuday we walked to the park in Zionsville.  The weather was fabulous..60 degrees and sunny…and these kids were lovin’ it!

This park is on the Eagle River and is really pretty…There are 3 different playgrounds, a tennis court, and a couple ball parks there too!

These are great kids…cute too..but I might be just a tad prejudice…..Ya think????  They did some posing for Mimi (me)…

Actually, the photo above is more the “norm”…Saturday night the boys and “moi” put together an award winning stuffed crust pizza!!

We used string cheese to roll into the outer crust…WALLA!!  That pizza was seriously awesome!!
 We had a great time with the boys and their Mom and Dad got some much needed relaxation in Jamaica..”NO PROBLEM, MON!”

After we got back home, we had another great family day with the Heisers…Our youngest Heiser grandson is following in the thespian footsteps of his big sister and loves to be “on stage”.  We attended his middle school play, “The Secret Case of Sherlock Holmes” on the following Sunday matinee.  Campbell (nicknamed “Soupy” by his friends) is in 7th grade and the play involves 6th, 7th and 8th grade students. The setting was a mental hospital where most of the patients thought they were someone famous.  One patient thought she was the Queen of England, one guys thought he was George Washington..and so on…Campbell’s character was named Henry Lee, but he thought he was Count Dracula…OMG..Campbell was the littlest, skinniest Dracula I have ever had to pleasure to encounter…Here are a few pics taken on stage..

He may have been small, but when he opened his mouth, his Dracula voice was a booming one!!And check out that slicked back “do”!!

He apparently forgot his coffin and used the floor…He cracked me up!!!

Curtain Call!!! (Look at his skinny little legs!)..

After the play we had to get photos of the Count with all of us, naturally!!

Taylor, his big Sis, and Peyton, his big bro were sooooo proud of Campbell..This is a big deal for him…He use to be very afraid to be noticed and has some sensory issues..For Campbell to begin stepping out of his “comfort zone” and up on the big stage is a huuuuuuge deal!!!

Grama and Papa were extremely proud of our grandson!!!

Group photo!!!!!

Soooo,now that I have bored you with more family stuff, I need to say that Dennis and I are no longer upset at the fact that we won’t be going anywhere this Winter..The fact is, we are so blessed to have our health and family, we are actually getting ready for the holidays with anticipation at being here…NOT, however, the shoveling part of being here..but it is what it is! I even had to go buy a new Christmas tree, since we haven’t been home for quite a few Christmases, our old tree went to Wolff Den about 6 years ago!!

This is our new and improved, slim and “trimmed” Christmas Tree.

I hope everyone had a very wonderful , peaceful  and safe Thanksgiving Day, filled with love and hugs and lots of good food!!!

“Blessed are those that can give without remembering and receive without forgetting”…

                                                                                      ~ unknown