December 27-January 9, 2008 (Colorado River TTN, Columbus, TX

January 7 We made our third on-the-road veterinarian visit today. The last time we took Ginger to the vet was Thanksgiving week because I was worried about her eye. Happily, it was a false alarm. Shortly after that she basically stopped eating, no matter what yummy things I mixed up. She was so skinny that I took her in for tests today. Again, everything checked out fine. She has lost almost 2 lbs. in 6 weeks so we have to get something figured out. Anyway, here is a plug for the very competent, caring Dr. Marne Baird of Fulshear Animal Clinic in Fulshear, TX! In this picture, Ginger is 2 inches away from the furnace vent, trying to get warm.

January 3, 2008 We settled in here near Columbus, TX at the Colorado River Thousand Trails park a week ago. This is one of our favorite parks. The deer really do roam free and show up in herds at about 8am and 4pm daily. If you enlarge the picture, you will see the deer that Chris, Bella, Erin, Ray and Josh are watching. As we were leaving Brookshire on the 27th, the refrigerator door fell off, and we are still in a make-do mode. No fix possible until we visit an authorized service center and it will be another week until we are close enough. Good incentive to start eating healthier for a New Year's resolution. It is possible to get into the refrigerator, but rarely worth the effort.

We spent New Year's Eve with Erin and family, playing games and having that last good food of the year!

November 18 - December 26 (Katy, TX)

December 26: The past few weeks have passed quickly as we have enjoyed shopping, movies, eating out and spending as much time as possible with Erin and family. Particularly enjoyable was our Saturday (12/20) outing with Erin and kids to the Keemah Boardwalk amusements. We fed stingrays and the kids enjoyed unlimited rides on the carnival-type rides.

Now, Christmas has come and gone and we enjoyed our time here very much. We will be moving about 60 miles west tomorrow to spend two weeks at the Thousand Trails Preserve near Columbus, Tx.

December 5: For those who have asked, I am adding a picture of the outside of Erin's house. We really haven't done much since Thanksgiving except cruise the malls. The Houston area is a good place to be this time of year.

November 25: This past week, we enjoyed Thanksgiving at Erin's house along with Chris' parents Gayle and Floyd who traveled from Kennewick. The weather turned cold and rainy on Wednesday, so some planned activities are on hold until the weather cooperates. Above is a picture of Isabella and her mom working on a craft at the Kindergarden "Fall Party."

November 18: Made the trip around Houston by using the tollway (very well worth it) and arrived without stress or incident and settled in at Houston West RV Park in Brookshire (minutes from Erin in Katy). http://www.hwrvpark.com/ Erin & Chris have a beautiful, beautiful house. We enjoyed the tour and then out with the kids to eat. Good to be here.

November 13-November 17 (Tunica MS, Ruston LA and Livingston TX)

November 17: After leaving Tunica on Thursday, we traveled as far as Ruston LA to the Wal-Mart parking lot. Very satisfactory location and place to park. We continued on to Livinston, TX yesterday (Friday) and will leave in the morning to park within miles of Erin's home in Katy. We expect to have more activities to report and pictures to post in the next few days.

November 14:
We followed the cousins' (Ginny & Jerry) advice and stayed in the Sam's Town RV Park in Tunica while we visited the various casinos in the area. Had a fair amount of luck each place, but Sheraton gave the best overall results. Made enough to pay for meals and camping fee, plus we had a whole lot of fun.

November 8-November 12 (Hernando Point, MS)

November 10, 2007 Totally relaxing few days. I did a geocache here in the park, we watched a painful football game that resulted in the Nebraska Red Tide causing a power outage of the KState Purple Power. We are considering changing our sports backing to something like girls' volleyball. We took a trip into Tunica last night and visited a couple of casinos. Peaceful campfire tonight with clear skies for star gazing.

November 8, 2007 Today, we arrived at a Corp of Engineers site near Tunica, MS. We were here at Hernando Point several years ago, and I have been anxious to return again. Our route today was south along the Natchez Trace parkway through part of Alabama and Mississippi. It isn't the best road to pull a trailer on (it is narrow and winding) but the scenery is magnificent, especially this time of year. We'll be here for 4 days and then move to Sam's Town RV Park in Tunica for a few days next week.

November 4 - 7 (Jasper TN & Rogersville AL)

As much as we enjoyed the past week, we are pleased to be in the lake and forest setting for the next few days. We happened upon a county park last night and enjoyed a spot on a lake on the Tennessee River in the Marion County Park. Although we traveled to Alabama today, we are on another lake on the Tennessee River at Joe Wheeler State Park. We plan on some hiking and maybe some water activities while we are here.http://www.joewheelerstatepark.com/

October 29 - November 3 (Pigeon Forge, TN)

11/3/2007: Even though Thursday evening was the official end of the Barb reunion, we were able to continue the theme of new and old friends on Friday and again today as we were leaving the Knoxville area. We enjoyed an afernoon and evening with Lan & Miriam at their home in Knoxville on Friday. Alhough we had enjoyed visiting with them on Wednesday, we still had quite a bit of catching up to do (40-years worth). We will meet up again in Arizona later in the winter. After checking out of the RV park this morning, we made a stop in Knoxville to thank Rick and Kate (and Rusty, the wonder dog) for the hard work of the group that made the reunion a huge success. Keeping a group of 50 or so people fed and accomodated for 4 days took a lot of work and effort, and we sincerely appreciate their efforts.

11/1/2007: Yesterday was the day for shopping and sight-seeing in nearby Gatlinburg. Came home with some beads and a dulcimer. We spent the evening with friends who we last saw 40 years ago in New London, CT. Today was the final day of the USS Barb reunion. The end of a great week with new and old friends. A highlight of the evening was a tribute to sailors on eternal patrol, written and performed by Gary Gard. http://www.submarinesailor.com/poetry/garygard.asp


10/29/07: It was a very short trip this morning to move from Raccoon Valley to Pigeon Forge, TN for a weeks stay in King's Holly Haven RV Park (http://www.hollyhavenrvpark.com/). Today is the start of the Navy reunion for those who served on the USS Barb, a nuclear submarine. We anticipate lots of story telling and renewed friendships. The fact that there is so much to do here in Pigeon Forge is a bonus, so we are sure we will be busy for the week we are here.

October 25 - October 28 (Georgetown KY and Raccoon Valley TN)

After we left Carmel the morning of the 25th, we made a stop to visit my Aunt Virginia in a care center in Richmond, IN. This was one of those visits we wished could have been longer, but we stayed as long as possible before moving on, ending the day with a stay in the Wal-Mart Parking lot in Georgtown, KY (near Lexington). Got an early start Friday morning and traveled on to Raccoon Valley Escapees Park near Heiskell TN. We have been enjoying ever-increasing stunning scenery as we go along. The fall colors are changing daily and we hope to get out and enjoy some photo opportunities to share.

Before settling in to listen to the K-State/Baylor game on the internet Saturday, we made a culture run to the Museum of Appalachia in Norris, TN. Highly recommend it, especially on a beautiful fall day such as this. http://www.museumofappalachia.com/

October 21 - October 24 (Carmel, IN)

Since we parked in the Maxwells' driveway in Carmel, it seemed like we would have enough time to complete our planned activities, but we fell short. We did manage to get in an abundant amount of reminiscing, photo sharing, shopping, eating, kitty appreciation and exchange of travel information. We made a stab at geocaching, but the daylight faded before we could discover treasure. We neglected crafting, library visitation, hiking and viewing movies. What we did accomplish was most enjoyable, and what we didn't do this time, we'll do next time. Many thanks to Carole and Jim for turning their driveway into an RV park.

October 17 - 20 (Springfield, IL and Horseshoe Lake TTN, IN)

Our first night in a Wal-Mart lot this year was Wednesday the 17th in Springfield, IL. Was a long drive from near Topeka, so it was okay just to stop and sleep. Departed early and made another long day drive to a Thousand Trails Park (Horseshoe Lakes) near Terre Haute, IN on Thursday. Had absolutely the best site ever. Were on a site on a small lake with lots of room and a great view. Ray's sister Carole and husband Jim joined us from Carmel, IN on Saturday for an outing to an annual Covered Bridge Festival in a nearby town. They spent the night in a tent pitched on our site back at the RV park. After a nice waffle breakfast on Sunday, we all loaded up and came to Carmel to park in Carole's driveway. We'll be here until Wednesday and head toward Tennessee.

October 10-16 Wilson, Smith Center & Mayetta KS

From visits with Loyde at his home, we adjourned to Sylvan Park Corp of Engineer park at Wilson Lake near Wilson, KS. We were joined by friends Carolyn & Glen for 3 days of games, talk and some exceptionally good food. The best food was enjoyed at the Corp of Engineer park at Kanopolis Lake near Salina where the 5 of us traveled to join friends Dave & Sherry and about 30 of their closest friends.

From Wilson it was on to Smith Center to have the trailer worked on at the Excel factory. This year's visit was not without problems, but we managed to leave nearly intact yesterday and traveled as far as an RV park associated with the Prairie Bend casino near Mayetta, KS. We were joined by cousins Ginny and Jerry for a trip through the buffet and some good gambling time. Some of us (me) were smiling as we left. Ginny and Jerry returned to Topeka and we settled in just before some torrential rain began. Now, it's off toward Indiana.

October 5- 9 Colby, KS

Our stay in Colby, KS is coming to an end for this year. We'll be moving within the hour to Wilson Lake near Wilson, KS. We spent a very relaxed few days here in Colby visiting with Loyde, Connie and family. Loyde gave me jewelry making lessons (I watched, he crafted) and I came away with several nice pieces of jewelry and a new hobby. We also took part in a "naming" ceremony for two Japanese international students who are among those "adopted" by Loyde and Connie. Quite fun as the girls chose unofficial American names, Elsa and Amy (pictured L to R).

September 27 - October 4 Washington to Kansas

We (Ray, Judy and Ginger-cat) pulled away from our summer lot in Blaine, WA on Thursday, September 27. First stop on this winter journey was Richland, WA where we visited friends and daughter Erika and family. Left Richland on Monday and spent two days near Glenn's Ferry, ID at the Three Island State Park. Wednesday and Thursday were hard travel days, making it first to Little America, WY and then on to Sidney, NE. Following a short visit with Aunt Martha and cousins Dorothy & Lynn in North Platte, we continued on to arrive in Colby, KS yesterday. We'll have time to catch up with brother Loyde and family while we are here at the Thomas County Fairgrounds until Wednesday.