IT’S WARMING UP…HO HO HO….!! YEA YEA YEA!!!!!

TODAY IS SUPPOSE TO BE ALMOST 70 DEGREES…DO WE DARE TRUST THAT LYIN’ SOB, THE WEATHERMAN????

  Some of us do things that are good for us…..and some of us…..…not so much…..

Not that is NOT McGuyver and myself on the left….However, McGuvyer and I DID go into the VFW Post 8573 Lounge yesterday for a wine and beer …I don’t take photos inside here.  You have to understand that this place is frequented 99.9% by local veterans…and then there is US!..Now, McGuyver  is a veteran of the Air Force..4 years…, but fighting in a war???..hmmm, not unless you consider surrounding Skidmore Girl’s College in Saratoga Springs, NY, where he was stationed…At any rate, all the people in this place are very nice and friendly, but I didn’t want to push it by blinding them with flashbulbs while they were just enjoying a cocktail and shuffleboard game..

 

 

 

I MANAGED TO SNAG ONE OF THEIR COASTERS FROM UNDER MY WINE GLASS..

VERY NICE…IF YOU CAN’T TELL, THOSE ARE DOG TAGS IN THE EAGLE’S TALONS, UNDER THE WORD BUDWEISER…

 

On the left is the Canyon Lake Dam…Right is a great example of typical Texas architecture in this little house.

McGuyver managed to get a few photos of me doing some physical labor the other day….

Ignore the rude old bat above..     I found a way to wash our bikes and the Hiker at one time…

This last weekend our 2 daughters and their families got together for an early Christmas in Carmel Indiana, just North of INDY,,,Chris , John and Aiden live in an apartment there, temporarily, since they sold their home in Broad Ripple …and are looking for a house farther North of INDY…

These are our Grands….and no, that does not include the Polar Bear, Seal and Elephant who were rude enough to jump into this photo!!! They all did The Children’s Museum, swam at the hotel pool, made snow angels, decorated cookies, had dinner, opened gifts, drank toasts (adults only, of course) and had a great time…We were right there with them…in our hearts!

  I want to welcome Kate and Terry , and also Dear Little Miss Mermaid to our blog…You might want to get a good supply of Rolaids and Ibuprofen for this trip…

I got this as an email…It’s the new “texting code” for Senior Citizens….like Den and I..I , for one, intend to put it into play immediately!!!!!ENJOY! (THANKS DAVID!)

ATD: At The Doctor's  
BFF: Best Friend Farted

BTW: Bring The Wheelchair 
BYOT: Bring Your Own Teeth 
CBM: Covered By Medicare 
CUATSC: See You At The Senior Center 
DWI: Driving While Incontinent 
FWB: Friend With Beta Blockers 
FWIW: Forgot Where I Was 
FYI: Found Your Insulin 
GGPBL: Gotta Go, Pacemaker Battery Low! 
GHA: Got Heartburn Again 
HGBM: Had Good Bowel Movement 
IMHO: Is My Hearing-Aid On

LMDO: Laughing My Dentures Out 
LOL: Living On Lipitor 
LWO: Lawrence Welk's On 
OMMR: On My Massage Recliner 
OMSG: Oh My! Sorry, Gas. 
ROFL... CGU: Rolling On The Floor Laughing... And Can't Get Up 
SGGP: Sorry, Gotta Go Poop 
TTYL: Talk To You Louder 
WAITT: Who Am I Talking To? 
WTFA: Wet The Furniture Again 
WTP: Where's The Prunes? 
WWNO: Walker Wheels Need Oil 
GGLKI: Gotta Go, Laxative Kicking In

SEE Y’ALL A LITTLE LATER…KEEP  YOUR SEATBELTS ON!!!

HELPING MY BROTHER-IN-LAW WITH A FEW ARRANGEMENTS

  I knew I wasn’t going to get a blog together Thursday…I needed to help Norman, my sister’s husband, with a few things……

My sister took her last “curtain call” yesterday ,and is now on the biggest stage of all, finally free of pain and knocking ‘em dead up there!!! (Yes, I know that was probably in bad taste, but if you only knew my sis, she would have LOVED that one!)

Norman asked me to write her obituary, and I was honored to do it.. I got that done this afternoon, with much love, and emailed it to the funeral home…  All is good here.  Den and I made a donation in Darlene’s name to a local theater group called The Limelight Theater Company…The young man who runs it went to Sandwich High School with our kids, and he is an old friend. ….His theater group was performing “It’s A Wonderful Life” last night, and Brian read a dedication to my sis before the performance…THANKS BRIAN, YOU ARE THE BOMB!

 

 

LADIES AND GENTLEMAN..I GIVE YOU BRIAN FAUTH…

ARTISTIC DIRECTOR OF LIMELIGHT THEATER COMPANY….AND A VERY DEAR OLD FRIEND OF THE CAVE FAMILY….

 

 

 

  We had a few other things to address…McGuyver wears Rigid Gas Permeable Bifocal Contact Lenses…he has worn them for 41 years….NO, NOT THE EXACT SAME LENSES…DUH!! He has been noticing a build up of deposits on the lenses recently , cannot see as well, and they need to be professionally polished…(Hey, I polish silverware ,NOT contact lenses!)  So I got online, found a place called TSO, Texas State Optometric here in New Branfels..I called them and …HUGE SURPRISE!!..THEY POLISH CONTACT LENSES ONSITE WHILE YOU WAIT…AND ONLY FOR $20!!

So today,we hauled GMC butt to TSO and McGuyver got buffed, polished and shined up like a new shoe…Well, at least his lenses did!  While there, we picked up some Church’s Chicken for tomorrow night’s dinner and some deer corn for the menagerie outside our campsite..  These deer and weird barnyard ducks are beginning to surround the Hiker and are going to hold us hostage until we come up with some corn…

 

Seems to me like that buck was “goosing” the duck!!! They argue over food all the time.

 

On the way back to the RV , we took the scenic route..The River Road..It goes from New Braunfels, following the winding Guadalupe River, and ends up at Sattler which is about 10 miles from Canyon Lake…

 

 

There is a really tall, neat looking house along this river, on the other side….McGuyver stopped so I could get a photo ..

 

 

 

IT IS FIVE LEVELS …AND THEN HAS A BIG TOP LEVEL THAT SITS UP HIGH LIKE A TREE HOUSE…NOTE THAT COPPER ROOF, TOO!….WHAT A VIEW FROM THAT TOP LITTLE HOUSE…

 

 

 

 

 

 

So…..it has been a long day….tonight is beef kabobs for dinner…I probably should post this puppy ..I need to proof read it and right now it is creeping on toward cocktail hour…and I COULD USE A VERY LARGE STRONG DRINK at this point!…No, I won’t get blitzened, blotto,  tipsy or buzzed..Well, maybe a slight buzz wouldn’t hurt…

Oh, what the Hey….I’m publishing right now! A Pulitzer Prize Winner, this blog is NOT…

Thanks to you all again for your caring and concern…What great blog friends you all are…I will try to get back in the groove now….I promise!

AND NOW…A STANDING OVATION , DARLENE…YOU SOOO DESERVE IT!!

Stuff going on….

Just a quick note….lots going on right now….No, Den and I are just fine….Will post maybe Saturday or Sunday…Love y’all!!!!!

WITH APOLOGIES TO THE FOOD NETWORK…..

  Hey…welcome aboard the Cave Dweller’s great adventure to a couple new followers!! Shout out to Ruth and Ken and  Luci and Loree !!!! You gotta be some kind of crazy to climb aboard this train wreck, but we sure are glad you came!!

 

 

GOT THIS COASTER AT JEFFERSON TX…WE LOVE OUR HAPPY HOURS….AND THESE 2 REINDEER MAKE A GREAT POINT !!

 

 

 

 

  Yesterday was non-eventful…We got groceries at WalMart…I had thought of doing one of those “people you see at WalMart” picture shows, but I am sure I could end up the subject of one at any given shopping trip, so I thought twice. We also hit one of our supermarket “favs”…HEB…They have the best meat and groceries ever!! You might want to check out the history of the HEB stores….Just sayin’…And FYI, the H.E.B. stands for Herbert E. Butt…Yep, you got it…Quite a story there, too!

  I’m hoping to get this “big behemoth of a fiver” washed today..They predicted 75 degrees, but so far, at 8:30AM, there is no sunshine and the wind is hawking off Canyon Lake….Since I’m not in the mood to play the  “windy cold hose spray” game, I will decide if I might put of the big wash job until tomorrow…

  A few shots….let me rephrase that…a few photos of a nice Buck who posed for me…

…not sure who was watching who, but shortly after I got that second picture, he snorted and bolted off into the grasses.

…Quiet day today…unless the camper gets a much needed scrub….Last night we had pizza, yet again…Can I just say to my blog child, Nellie,  that pizza has all of the major food groups in it, so I count it as health food!  I wore one of my best dining ensembles for the occasion…

 

 

……     AND IF THIS OUTFIT DOESN’T SCARE OUR FOLLOWERS OFF, NOTHING WILL!

FOR SOME REASON…TODAY I’M OUTA GAS…MY MOOD SWINGS ARE LIKE MONKEYS ON VINES…

IF I GET AMBICIOUS AND WASH THE CAMPER, THERE MAY BE PHOTOS…..BIG WOOP.

 

 

 

 

We are planning on grilled baby back ribs tomorrow night for dinner, and that means that today I put on my sous chef hat and start “prepping” for the Chief chef, Chef McGuyver…..

 

 

Hey!! ?So I forgot my sous chef hat!!!  This will have to do!….(Must keep my hair covered as per the RV Kitchen Help Health Dept)…..and NO…DO NOT CLICK TO ENLARGE..I TRIED IT AND IMMEDIATELY MADE A 911 CALL TO A PLASTIC SURGEON!

 

 

The secret to great ribs is…(get ready, I don’t share these secrets with just anyone…or do I??)…Yellow Mustard, Donna’s “no longer secret dry rub”, and Bullseye BBQ Sauce..The rub is basically paprika, brown sugar, cayenne pepper, garlic powder, garlic pepper, cumin, dry mustard, onion powder and some coarse salt….

   I cut the rib rack in quarters, smear the mustard on both sides, coat all over with rub…Then, wrap each quarter in heavy duty foil and put in the refrig overnite ( this is a  must do)…..Tomorrow we really would normally put them over a wood fire for about 45 minutes, turning every so often…This may not be possible here (thanks a lot, Smokey), so I put them in our oven at 300 degrees for 45 min….Take them off and let them sit for about an hour, unwrap the pieces and throw them on the grill…Slather them up with Bullseye just before you take them off…and WALLA!..There you have it…..And if you tell anyone , I’ll have to send you to “swim with the fishes”….

 

 

..That little red present is lit up from the inside..very clever…Can ya see our little tree on the table????

OK, the sun is coming out..it is 11AM…I see that I have a possible film project coming up after lunch..It’s called “The Behemoth Gets a Bath”…starring ME, and co-starring McGuyver , who is great at doing windows!!

SORRY MCGUYVER…SMOKEY RULES HERE!!

 

   Yesterday we had a pretty good drive to get here at Potter’s Creek, Canyon Lake TX.  We left about 7AM and while coming through the back roads from Buckhorn Creek to get on Route 20, we encountered some icy patches on some of the roads…WHOA!! We also managed to totally confuse Carelton, our Tom Tom voice.  I’m just sayin’ that he can become a royal pain in the behind when he keeps disagreeing with my directions to McGuyver!! He does NOT know when to shut up and let me navigate.

  Last year we made the mistake of coming through San Marcos on I-35….on a Saturday….just before Xmas….For those who don’t know, San Marcos is  home to Premium Outlets , and the exit ramps were backed up all the way onto the interstate.. THIS WILL NOT PUT YOU IN THE XMAS SPIRIT!! This year we did it a little differently..(my idea, not Carleton’s)..We jumped off the Interstate just South of Austin and took 290 West, coming in from the North on Rt12.  Man has that place grown..It was a snarl of new subdivisions, strip malls, restaurants, schools and people..LET ME OUTA HERE!!!

  We made it to Potter’s Creek about 2PM..to find this sign greeting us at the check-in office…

NO CAMPFIRES HERE ON THIS TRIP…SORRY DEN….

  And this is why…

 

  Man oh man…is this place dry!!! I certainly wouldn’t want to be the one to light the spark that burned all this up!

..We have a nice spot up in the trees, and we got both of our satellite dishes up with nary a profanity….(Did I say WE??? I stand corrected…McGuyver did it all by himself!)

 

It was 32 bone chilling degrees last night, and we wore our Illinois “we are tough Midwesterners” walking gear on our walk….

 

 

 

I REFUSE TO ENLARGE THIS ANYMORE..AND IF YOU ARE SMART,  YOU WON’T EITHER…. 

 

  OK, I have a question for the Queen of Birds, Judy…. What the Heck kind of ducks are these dudes?? The poor things are some of the “ugliest ducklings” we have ever seen, and there is a FLOCK of them here at Canyon Lake…

ONE OF THEM IS LIMPING…SO WE HAVE SOMETHING IN COMMON WITH OUR CONGRESS…WE HAVE A “ LAME DUCK” HERE, TOO.  WE ALSO HAVE A LAME BUCK…ONE OF THE DEER IS GIMPING AROUND.  EITHER HE IS TRYING THE SYMPATHY ACT OR THEY HAD A BATTLE OVER THE CORN THAT EVERYONE FEEDS THE DEER, AND HE LOST……HELP ME JUDY!!

So, we are all snuggled down in our new diggs….and the weather is suppose to warm up in the next few day…I see grilled baby back ribs in our near future…..

 

 

 

 

WE HAVE A GREAT SPOT ON THE HILL…OUT OF THE WIND, BUT STILL HAVE THE SUNSHINE….

 

 

 

   I got a call from my brother-in-law yesterday, and my sis is no longer conscious…Her kidneys have shut down and her husband signed a DNR at the urging from her Doctor….She will soon move on to a different place and time….and be out of her pain and misery….which is all we want for her… When she passes, there will be a cremation and no funeral, according to her wishes…I thank you all for your kind words for the past 6 months..…

Tomorrow is grocery day, combined with laundry day…..Killing 2 birds with one box of Tide and the checkbook…..I will blog again Wednesday…..

CARPE DIEM!!!!!

CHRISTMASTIME IN THE PINEY WOODS OF TEXAS…

   I would like to welcome some new followers to our blog…I love that you are crazy enough to jump into the truck and ride with us.. BOOYA!! to  Heidi and Sherry and Charley Dilworth. …Buckle up and hang on!!

Friday we did a road trip through East Texas to a place called “Uncertain” Texas…After being there I understand the name…I was “uncertain” about many things …

Riding in a fishing boat in this swampy lake with alligators.…”UNCERTAIN”….Riding in the Graceful Ghost Riverboat where they live….”UNCERTAIN”….

WE WERE, HOWEVER, VERY “CERTAIN” ABOUT NOT GOING INTO THE LIGHTHOUSE GROCERY & GRILL…..TOO SCARY!

There really wasn’t much going on in this little Bayou town…at least nothing of interest….so we drove back into Jefferson to take a walk through the town….

They were hooking up the mule team to give rides around town in the covered wagon….You could get a tour of Jefferson in the buckboard riding through town…

 

 

 

 

All of the businesses and homes were decked out in garland and ribbon….

 

 

 

The following pictures were taken at the Excelsior Hotel….This place is soooo beautiful….

I cannot resist posing in front of a Xmas Tree….and I seemed to fit right in with the rest of the antiques…

On the right is a page from the hotel’s guest register…If you count up 7 names, you will see Gnl. Grant, Washington City…This was just one of the famous people who have stayed here…and yes, I would have like to gotten into that case to touch that stuff to do some history “channeling”….but they were watching me like a hawk….

…Lots of sights to see here in Jefferson….Not sure who came in that car above..Loved the lawn chairs on top, though.

We wandered around and ended up at Auntie Skinners for a beer and a glass of wine….You know who drank what…

Notice the brick streets in all of the photos….LOVE THIS TOWN!

We picked up a pizza before we headed back to our camper….to save for later..The weather was 70 degrees and a campfire was definitely in order!!!

BULLDOG’S PIZZA….LOOKED FABULOUS…TASTED…OK….

Before I end this, I noticed that Rick has quite a workshop there at his house….Back in Chicago, we have a radio/TV personality named Lou Manfredini, aka Mr. FixIt…He is a carpenter who takes calls from clueless people needing help with home “fix it” projects….I  think Rick need a hat like this one….

 

 

 

 

THE OFFICIAL “MR. FIX IT” CAP…YOU CAN’T BUY ‘EM…I HAPPENED TO WIN THIS ONE IN A CONTEST HE RAN.  YOU WERE TO WRITE INTO HIS RADIO SHOW WITH YOUR HOME IMPROVEMENT NIGHTMARE IN STORY FORM….I HAD MANY TO SHARE, BUT I CHOSE THE COMPLETE RE-CONSTRUCTION OF OUR ENTIRE UPSTAIRS,…WHEN WE HAD BATS FLYING THROUGH THE STUDDED WALLS WHILE WE WERE TRYING TO SLEEP…I WON AN “HONORABLE MENTION”…WHICH GOT ME THIS HAT…AND A $50 GIFT CARD ….DENNIS GOT THE CAP, I GOT THE GIFT CARD….RICK, YA REALLY GOTTA GET ONE OF THESE!!

OK, that’s one heck of a long blog….hope those of you who nodded off didn’t fall off your computer chair, or drool on your keyboard….We are leaving tomorrow for Canyon Lake, North of San Antonio…no computer till late tomorrow…and that is only if God is willing and the creek don’t rise…See ya then…(hopefully)!!!!